The Perfect Storm
by futurebwaystar411
Summary: When a winter storm grounds all planes in Chicago, Jane and Maura are stuck in the last hotel room available. Together. Rated M for future chapters. Eventually Rizzles. Now includes another story in the same 'universe', Domino Effect. This story is now complete.
1. A chance encounter

**Author's Note:**

**This is Femslash and it is rated M (for future chapters). I don't own this characters and make no money from them, etc, etc. **

Jane checked her phone for what felt like the hundredth time in five minutes. She had been sitting in the airplane on the tarmac at O'Hare for over an hour already. Her connecting flight to Boston was supposed to leave in 15 minutes. "There is no way I'm going to make it." She thought to herself.

She was on her way back from an incredibly boring conference for security officers and cops in Oregon. She had been sent by her Lieutenant and Jane wondered halfway through her first day if it hadn't been a punishment for something. She had waded her way through the thousands of square feet of booths and deflected offers for a drink or dinner from countless men, most of them older than her and balding. She had sat through all the requisite seminars and lectures before finally escaping to the gym in her hotel. It wasn't like there was anything else to do in Oregon.

Jane mindlessly scanned her phone, checking her email. She sent a text to Maura complaining about the inefficiency of airports and travel in general. She didn't receive an answer right away and she groaned, clicking her phone off and turning to stare out the small airplane window. She couldn't see very much because it was seven PM and the middle of January in Chicago. The sun, if there had been one that day, had set hours before.

Finally an announcement came over the intercom on the plane.

"Ladies and gentleman we thank you for your patience and I am happy to inform you that we have just been given a gate assignment and we should be moving shortly. I apologize again for the inconvenience and we hope to have you at the gate momentarily."

There was a smattering of applause and a few half hearted cheers. Jane shifted her messenger bag underneath her feet and shoved the paperback she'd brought along back inside it. She wondered if her she would actually have enough time to catch her connecting flight and make it back to Boston that night. A few minutes later the plane was in motion and pulling into a gate. Finally they stopped and all of the passengers began gathering their luggage and coats. Jane tossed her bag across her body and made her way off the plane as quickly as possible.

She finally disembarked and made it up the gangway and when she exited into the airport she saw that there were quite a few people milling around. She didn't think much about it knowing that O'Hare was always a particularly busy airport. She found an arrivals and departures board and started scanning the flights. Finding her connection to Boston she saw the big red rectangle and knew that it wouldn't be good. CANCELLED the box screamed at her. Only then did she realize that every other flight on the board had been cancelled as well.

"Great." She groaned out load. "Just fucking great."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket but she didn't take the time to check it. She made her way to the Delta desk to see about rescheduling her flight for the next day, already cursing the fact that she would have to sleep in the airport overnight.

After waiting for a few minutes behind the other passengers from her plane that had their connections cancelled, she finally made it to an agent.

"Hi, I just need to reschedule my flight to Boston. The earliest one you have out tomorrow morning will be fine." Jane said, plopping her bag up on the counter."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but Chicago is seeing some intense winter weather right now. We are unsure if flights will be running again tomorrow morning." The blonde agent said with what Jane could tell was a very forced smile.

Jane groaned again. "Seriously? How bad can it be?" She asked attempting to peer out the floor to ceiling windows next to her.

"Well so far the accumulation has been almost one foot in 12 hours." The agent replied with the same forced smile.

Jane grumpily though that only someone that worked for an airline could be so conditioned to smile even when announcing that a foot of snow had fallen in Chicago in one day. Jane raked her hand through her curls and sighed. "Well, what should I do?"

"I can provide you with a hotel voucher for the night and you can come back tomorrow to see if we have any flights available." The woman suggested, shuffling through papers on her desk. She pulled out the one she was looking for and handed it to Jane. Jane accepted it and thanked the woman because it wasn't like she had another choice. She couldn't very well blame the woman for the freak winter storm pounding Chicago.

She looked at the address on the hotel voucher and saw that at least it was close to the airport, so she might have a chance of making it there with all the snow. She headed down to the baggage terminal and picked up her bag then made her way out to the taxi line.

After driving only a few minutes on the ice and snow covered roads Jane was very glad that her hotel was almost in walking distance to the airport. She paid the cabbie and got out, stepping under the steel and glass awning of the hotel. She stomped the snow off of her feet and made her way into the ultra-modern lobby. She headed over to the check in counter and was greeted by the very cheery man working behind the desk.

"Hello!" He beamed. What the heck was it with Chicago and their happiness about the horrible weather? Jane wondered.

"Hi." Jane replied handing over her hotel voucher.

"Oh, you don't have a reservation?" The man asked, his smile slipping a little.

"No." Jane replied. "I didn't really plan to spend a night in Chicago. I was supposed to have a flight out tonight."

"Well… I'm afraid that we actually don't have any rooms left. We had quite a few reservations and then many people have been referred here from airlines." He said offering a sad smile.

"Terrific." Jane said sarcastically.

"I can provide you with a list of alternate hotels." The man began but was interrupted.

"Jane!"

Jane turned around bewildered, to see who could possibly be calling her name in the middle of an airport hotel in Chicago.

Jane caught sight of the teal blue designer dress before she realized who it belonged to.

"Maura?" Jane asked, surprised to see her friend there.

"Jane!" She said energetically, squeezing Jane quickly around the shoulders. "You're staying her as well?"

"Well I would be if they had any rooms left." Jane said, shooting a glare at the front desk clerk.

"Oh. Well you can stay with me!" Maura volunteered with a bright smile. "I've already got a room upstairs. My flight was delayed coming back from that Medical Examiners conference in Las Vegas."

Jane had forgotten that Maura had gone to a conference the same week Jane had been.

"Oh. Well if you're sure that it's not a problem…" She trailed off uncertainly, glancing at the clerk as if checking to see what his opinion was. He was already ccupied answering phone calls and typing on his computer.

"Don't be silly Jane." Maura continued and hooked her arm through Jane's. "C'mon lets go leave your bag upstairs and then we can find some dinner."

Jane grabbed her suitcase and wheeled it along beside them.

"I thought your conference wasn't over until Monday?" Jane asked as they waited for the elevator.

"It wasn't, but I decided to leave early after checking the weather. I wanted to try to make it home before this storm hit. Obviously that didn't really work out."

"Yeah, I guess not." Jane said with a laugh. "You would be the one to check the weather of the entire country while you were in Las Vegas. You could have been at the casinos or a bar or something." Jane teased Maura lightly.

"Well, I actually did play some slots, Jane." Maura answered matter of factly.

"Really? What the penny slots?" Jane teased.

"Nickel…" Maura replied not immediately realizing that Jane that was teasing her. "Oh very funny Jane. I have gambled before."

Jane snorted. "Yeah _nickel _slots apparently…"

They stepped off the elevator onto the 10th floor and Jane let Maura ahead of her to lead the way to the room. Maura fished in her clutch for her room key and slid it through the reader. She pushed open the door and held it open so that Jane could pull her suitcase in.

"Jesus Maura!" Jane said when she saw the gigantic two room suite that Maura had booked. "I bet your airline didn't give you a voucher for this room."

"Well no. I had to pay a bit extra for this." Maura said, pulling Jane's bag into the bedroom.

"Oh just a bit extra?" Jane mumbled under her breath, taking in the floor to ceiling windows in the combination living room and dining room. There was even a small kitchenette.

Jane admired the 50 inch flat screen TV on the wall before moving into the bedroom. Jane was greeted by the same huge windows in this room too and a low, modern king sized bed.

"Uh Maur… You know there's only one bed in here." Jane said peeking into what she discovered was the walk in closet off the bedroom. She had been looking for the second bedroom to the suite.

"Yes Jane. We've slept in the same bed before" Maura said as she wheeled Jane's bag into the closet. "Besides it's a king size, you won't even know I'm there."

Jane shook her head at the doctor's eternal practicality and wandered into the attached bathroom. Most of the bathroom was taken up by a giant bathtub that reminded Jane of half an eggshell. There was also a walk in shower and double vanity with chairs.

"Jeez." Jane muttered, wondering how much this suite really cost Maura.

"Jane?" Maura called from the other room. "Do you want to change so we can go eat dinner?" Jane glanced down at her worn jeans and t-shirt as she walked back into the bedroom.

"Where are we going that I can't wear this?" She asked gesturing towards her clothing. Maura was of course wearing one of her incredibly expensive designer dresses and a pair of heels. But that didn't mean much to Jane because she wore the same expensive clothes to work in the morgue everyday.

Maura looked her up and down with a frown.

"Fine. I'll change." Jane said. She walked over to the closet and pulled some black pants and a slightly nicer t-shirt out of her bag. She exchanged her tennis shoes for boots and proclaimed herself ready to go.

They made their way downstairs and Maura stopped at the concierge to find out about nearby places to eat dinner. Jane had wandered over to the front doors and was gazing out at the knee high snow drifts and the fat flakes still falling from the sky. She sighed, it didn't look like they would be leaving Chicago anytime soon.


	2. Dinner and a movie

"Well the concierge recommended the restaurant right next door." Maura said pulling her coat on. "Its probably a good idea to stay close tonight, since its still snowing."

Jane agreed and they made their to the aptly named "O'Hare Bar and Grill" that was quite literally right next door to their hotel.

The place was fairly busy but Jane and Maura were seated quickly at a table near the bar. Maura ordered wine for herself and Jane, on a whim, decided to drink wine also. She rarely did and most of the times she had drunk red wine it had been with Maura.

Both women chatted about their respective conferences although by the way Maura was talking, she had definitely enjoyed her conference far more that Jane had enjoyed hers. Maura went on for a quite a while about the research being presented on a new technique for determining the age of food found in the stomachs of cadavers. Jane tuned out after a while and was content to sip her wine and watch Maura gesticulate passionately about the thing she loved most, science. Their food arrived and they chewed in relative silence. After a few more glasses of wine for both and a dessert to share they decided that they should head back to the hotel.

Jane didn't realize until she stood up and her head swam, just how much wine she'd had. Maura seemed to be fairly buzzed also because she was laughing a lot and leaning on Jane's arm on their way back to the hotel. Jane reveled in the warm feeling in her head and stomach and reached down to take Maura's hand in hers. She was barely aware of what she was doing until she found herself stroking Maura's palm with her finger. It was as if her body was acting of its own accord. Maura's nonstop talking slowed as they made their way into the lobby of the hotel. Jane released Maura's hand and instantly wished she hadn't because her own hand felt empty and cold. The two women walked close together, Maura bumping into Jane's side a few times down the narrow hallway to the elevator.

The doors closed on Jane and Maura in the elevator when Maura turned to face Jane. "Why'd you pull your hand away?" Maura asked, her words slurring just the tiniest bit. She leaned into Jane and batted her green eyes seductively.

Jane laughed, trying to decide if Maura was just joking or not. Their relationship had always been playful and perhaps a bit flirty. Jane had assumed it was all in good fun, although the look that Maura was giving her currently was making her reconsider that thought. Jane decided quickly, perhaps thanks to the amount of wine she'd had to drink, that she didn't really care at that moment. She brought her hand up, running a fingernail down Maura's forearm. Maura grinned and made a move to grab Jane's hand herself, when the elevator doors opened to their floor.

Jane grasped Maura's hand in hers and lead her easily down the hallway. She leaned up against the wall as Maura reached in her purse for the room key. Jane grinned as she watched the woman shift her weigh from one foot to the other.

"Those heels aren't even comfortable are they?" Jane asked, still grinning.

Maura looked up from her search through her bag. "What? Oh. Well… They're not uncomfortable." She said finally finding the key and swiping it on the door.

"I think those incredibly expensive Louis Vuittons are just an excuse to make your legs look good."

"They're Louboutins, Jane. Louis Vuitton makes purses." Maura said, shaking her head as she flipped on the light in the living room. "Thank your for saying they make my legs look nice though." She added and Jane was glad she was behind Maura because she could feel her face redden.

"Want another drink?" Maura asked, seemingly unaware of any awkwardness, as she stepped behind the counter of the kitchenette. She pulled out a bottle of wine from somewhere underneath it. Jane wouldn't be surprised if this suite came with its own wine cellar.

"Sure." She replied, kicking off her boots and sinking down into the overstuffed suede couch. She flipped on the TV, switching it to ESPN. Maura poured them both a glass of wine and came to join Jane on the couch. She slipped off her heels daintily and pulled her feet up underneath her. Jane glanced away from the sports recap on the screen to find Maura staring at her.

"Sorry. You can change it if you don't want to watch sports." Jane said, gesturing to the remote on the coffee table.

"It's okay. I doubt that there's anything else on this late anyway." Both women sipped their wine slowly for a while until Jane suggested they order a movie to watch. She even let Maura pick out one of the cheesy romantic comedies she loved. Jane had to admit that this one actually wasn't horrible and she even found herself laughing and rooting for the couple to get together in the end.

Maura had emptied her wine glass and gotten herself another halfway through the movie. By the time the credits rolled she was leaning on Jane's shoulder snoring slightly. Jane smiled as she looked down at the golden hair splayed across her shoulder and the way Maura was curled up against her like a child. Jane shifted to grab the remote off the coffee table and Maura stirred beside her.

"Sorry." Jane said, her voice scratchy from unuse and the late hour.

"Mmmph." Maura groaned, stretching her arms and legs out as Jane turned off the TV. She picked their wine glasses up off the table and took them to the sink. Jane looked back at Maura stretched out on the couch, her eyes half open and peering up at Jane.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked in a groggy voice.

"You didn't miss that much. They got together in the end." Jane said as she put the wine bottle in the recycling bin.

"You sort of liked it didn't you?" Maura asked with a smile.

"Ehh. It was okay." Jane said feigning disinterest.

"You are such a liar Jane Rizzoli." Maura said throwing a pillow in Jane's direction. Jane ducked and the pillow hit the wall behind the bar.

"Hey, people who can't aim shouldn't throw pillows." Jane teased, walking around the bar to stand in front of Maura.

"I think you got that idiom wrong…" Maura said with a thoughtful look on her face as if she wasn't sure whether Jane had deliberately misstated it or not.

"C'mon _Doctor _Isles. We should go to bed. Just in case it stops snowing and we can get a flight out tomorrow." Jane said pulling Maura up off the couch by both hands.

Maura stepped toward Jane but tripped over her heels lying on the ground. She fell forward and Jane caught hold of her arms before she hit the coffee table. Maura looked up at her with a sheepish grin.

"Whoops." She said quietly, never taking her eyes off of Jane.

"I gotcha." Jane replied her hands gripping both of Maura's forearms. Their faces were only inches apart when some, not quite so wine addled part of Jane's brain sent out a warning. "Maybe not so normal to desperately want to kiss your best friend" the warning voice in her head said.

Jane steadied Maura by the shoulders and reached down to pick up her boots and Maura's heels. Then she followed Maura to the bedroom and deposited the shoes in the closet. She also grabbed her flannel pajama bottoms and old BPD t-shirt. She took her clothes into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

When she came out after she changed, Maura was already in bed, wearing her light blue, silky long sleeved pajama set. Jane normally didn't care what she wore to bed but she did wish that she had brought something other than the ratty flannel PJ bottoms. She tossed her clothes into her suitcase and climbed in bed. As she arranged the pillows the way she wanted them she realized that Maura had been right. The bed was so big they would never even know the other was there. As Jane lay back on the pillows she felt a twinge of regret at this thought.

Maura sighed slightly and Jane flipped over to face the blonde. She blew a dark curl out of her eye and Maura opened her eyes halfway, grinning at Jane lazily.

"You're so pretty Jane."

"And you are sooo drunk Maura." Jane answered back with a wry grin.

"Mmmm." Maura seemed to agree and closed her eyes again.

The wine seemed to hit Jane all at once and she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was Maura's hand on her cheek.


	3. Morning Glory

Jane woke up and opened one eye to see the sliver of light from the gap in the curtains falling across her face. She closed her eye and tried to will herself to fall back asleep. She concentrated on the softness of the bed and her pillow, attempting to sink back into sleep. It wasn't until then that she became aware of Maura's arm draped across her stomach. She opened her eyes and turned her head slightly to see the blonde lying on her stomach with her hair covering her face. Her chest was still rising and falling rhythmically so Jane figured that she was probably still asleep.

Jane closed her eyes again and tried to remember how much wine she had had the night before. The dull ache in the back of her head told her it was a good bit. As she lay still, relishing the weight of Maura's arm on her, she remembered the feeling Maura's hand on her cheek as she fell asleep. She could feel her face flush and she grimaced at herself. Not only that but there had been a moment, in the living room, when Jane had been certain they were going to kiss.

Was that what she wanted? The feeling of Maura sleeping beside her and the sounds of her gentle breathing told Jane that it might be.

Jane shook her head, trying to rid her brain of the thoughts. This was Maura, her best friend. RIght? She gently moved Maura's arm and slid out of the bed, tiptoeing to the bathroom. The clock on the wall said 6:30 and Jane figured her body was used to getting up that early, even after all the wine she'd had. She turned the shower on high and stepped in to stand under the waterfall-like shower heads. She sighed when the water hit her shoulders. No wonder rich people were so happy if they had shower heads like these.

After a good twenty minutes of standing under the stream of hot water Jane reluctantly turned it off and stepped out. She opened the door to the bedroom cautiously but saw that Maura was still asleep. She grabbed a t-shirt and sweatpants from her bag and slipped them on before climbing back in bed. She lay down again, careful to avoid spraying Maura with her wet hair. Maura stirred and flipped over onto her side, her eyes opening slowly.

She smiled hazily at Jane, "Morning."

"Good morning." Jane answered with a grin. "How's your head feel this morning Doctor?"

Maura frowned slightly, "Throbbing a bit. How much did I have to drink last night?"

"Oh… Probably a bottle of wine by yourself." Jane answered with a laugh. "Do you remember drunkenly telling me I was pretty?" Jane asked in a playful voice.

Maura's frown deepened. "Umm. Sort of. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable Jane."

Jane was surprised by Maura's serious tone. She had just been teasing her but Maura was making it seem as if it was more than that.

"Uh. No it's okay." Jane finally replied after an awkward silence. Or at least it seemed awkward to Jane since Maura was staring at her intensely. Jane wondered if Maura could read her mind. Because if she could that was going to prove to be a bit of a problem.

Jane forced a laugh and set up, grabbing the remote for the TV off the nightstand. Anything she could do to distract herself. She flipped on the TV and found the local news.

"Another six inches of snow has fallen overnight in the Chicago area." The news anchor was reporting. "Although there has been a break in the storm the meteorologists are predicting it will be brief. We should expect another 6 inches or so today."

"Great." Jane said, flipping to the weather channel. "There's no way there will be any flights out today with that much snow."

"Oh well, look at it this way Jane. At least we won't have to go to work!" Maura said with a grin as she sat up, arranging the pillows behind her.

Jane placed a call to the airline just in case, but she was told that there were currently no flights scheduled to leave Chicago that day. She was given a number to try back in a few hours.

"I'm going to go to the gym." Jane said after watching the video footage of people attempting to dig out their snow covered cars on the streets of Chicago for a few minutes.

Maura nodded her approval. "I'm going to take a shower then maybe we can order breakfast?"

"Sure. Sounds good."

Jane put in a good 40 minute work out in the expansive gym on the top floor of the hotel. She had spent the last few minutes of it jabbing a punching bag, trying not to revisit the look on Maura's face when she asked if she'd made Jane uncomfortable by touching her. Unfortunately no matter how hard she punched, the image refused to leave her mind. Finally, sore and out of breath Jane stopped. She grabbed a towel off the shelf and wiped her face realizing that she was going to need another shower after that workout. "Oh well, what else is there to do?" She thought, it wasn't like there was a long list of things for them to do today.

Jane swiped the key to the room, letting herself back in the suite. Maura was lying on the bed still, but she'd changed into yoga pants and a sweater.

"I went ahead and ordered food. I wasn't sure how long you'd be. I just got a couple of different things, I'm sure you can find something you like."

"Good, I'm starving." Jane replied peeling off her sweaty t-shirt to reveal a black sports bra and she almost didn't notice the stare that got her from Maura as she turned towards the bathroom. "I'm just gonna jump in the shower really quick.

After a second, much shorter shower Jane emerged and got dressed.

"Food's in here." Maura called from the living room.

Jane entered to find the dining table covered in all kinds of breakfast foods: eggs, toast, fruit, pancakes and more.

"Maura! I thought you said you ordered a 'couple of things'!" Jane asked incredulously.

"Well," Maura said, grinning sheepishly. "I couldn't decide."

Jane took a seat across from Maura and pulled a plate towards her. "Well we should at least make sure it doesn't go to waste." She said with a grin.

Breakfast passed uneventfully and both women moved to the couch to watch some of the morning talk shows.

"Well I don't think we'll get a flight out of here anytime soon." Maura said during a commercial break, gesturing to the window. When Jane looked she saw that snow had started to fall again.

"Well at least we have company for this blizzard." Jane said with a smile. "I would have been here alone." She said, tapping Maura lightly on the arm. "Although I definitely wouldn't have had such a nice room if I'd been here alone."

Maura laughed. "Yes thats true, although I _could_ still be out in Vegas drinking and playing the slots."

"Was that a joke Maura Isles?" Jane asked, pretending to be shocked.

"I am perfectly capable of joking, Jane." Maura said, giving Jane a playful shove.

Jane laughed, "All right, all right. It just happens so infrequently sometimes I forget you know how." Jane said shoving Maura back.

"You are such a child." Maura said, rubbing her arm.

"I could kiss it and make it better." Jane retorted quickly and then felt like her statement had sucked all of the air out of the room. Maura just stared at her, her hand still rubbing her arm and her mouth slightly open.

"I might like that." Maura finally replied in a low voice that sounded more like Jane's usually did. Jane decided it was now or never. She tried to turn off her mind because in spite of the fact that this was most likely NOT A GOOD IDEA, she wanted so badly to try it.

She leaned forward, sweeping Maura's curls off her arm and placed her lips lightly on Maura's bicep. "Better?"

"Mmhhmm.." Maura replied with her eyes closed. Jane placed another kiss, this time on her shoulder. Feeling bold she then moved to Maura's collarbone. This elicited a sharp intake of breath from Maura. Jane pulled back, slightly embarrassed. What in the world was she doing?

"What's wrong?" Maura asked, her green eyes popping open.

"Nothing. I just…" Jane trailed off and Maura took the opportunity to move towards Jane. She paused, hovering with her face only inches from Jane's, her eyes wide open. "I just…" Jane tried again, attempting to assemble her jumbled thoughts into something coherent, but she found that it was impossible with Maura's face that close to her. Her lips that close. She could smell Maura's shampoo and it seemed to be clouding out any thoughts she might have had.

Suddenly Maura moved forward pressing her lips against Jane's. Jane was taken aback but recovered quickly and she kissed Maura back. She reveled in the fact that kissing Maura was _not at all_ like kissing a man.

**- Another sort of slow one, but I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for the reviews! **


	4. And then

Their first kiss ended slowly and Jane felt like she'd been underwater. Maura pulled back slightly and simply gazed at Jane. They stayed like that for a few moments until Maura broke the silence.

"I hope… that was okay." Maura said, her voice unsure.

Jane grinned, "Maur I'm not sure I've ever seen you at a loss for words." Maura rolled her eyes at Jane.

"But yes. It was." Jane said softly, twirling a piece of hair around her finger nervously. Maura glanced down as Jane wound and unwound her hair quickly and laughed. Jane immediately stopped, remembering that Maura had once told her it was a sign of sexual frustration.

"What? It's a nervous habit!" Jane blurted.

"Of course." Maura said pretending to believe Jane. "Do you I make you nervous Jane?" Maura asked huskily, moving closer to Jane on the couch. She ran a hand through Jane's curls, pushing them back off of her forehead. Jane was surprised when her hand seemed to act of it's own accord, reaching up to grasp Maura's hip through her yoga pants.

Maura pulled her hand free from Jane's hair and ran her fingernails down Jane's arm, giving Jane goosebumps. She then leaned down, capturing Jane's lips again. She kissed her tentatively at first but when Jane squeezed her hip she deepened the kiss, pushing her body gently up against Jane's. Jane moved away from the arm of the couch so that she could lay back completely and practically pulled Maura on top of her. She kissed Maura feverishly, feeling that she would never get enough of the blonde's lips on hers.

Maura eventually pulled back, gazing at Jane with a smile. She placed a kiss on Jane's cheek and then lay her head on Jane's shoulder to catch her breath. Jane welcomed the break too as she breathed in the sweet scent of Maura's hair. She drank in the simple scent of Maura and the way the other woman felt resting on top of her. Jane could feel all the curves of her body against Jane's sharper angles.

After a few quiet minutes Jane ran her hands through Maura's hair and then gently put her hands on Maura's shoulders easing her off of Jane and onto her back on the couch. Jane was now straddling Maura, resting on her hands over her. She reached for the neckline of Maura's sweater and pulled it aside, gently laying a trail of kisses from her shoulder up to her neck. She concentrated on her neck for a few minutes, kissing and sucking on the tender flesh there. Maura showed her appreciation by making small, contented noises.

Maura slipped a hand under the bottom of Jane's t-shirt and grazed the taut skin there. Jane shivered and almost forgot what she was doing, her mind was so preoccupied with Maura's hand on her stomach. Maura peered up at Jane, watching her as she drug her fingernails across Jane's abs. Jane licked her lips without realizing that she had paused and was simply staring down at Maura.

"Is this okay?" Maura asked, gazing intently into Jane's dark eyes.

"God Maur." She groaned. "Yeah…"

"I've heard it said that consent is sexy, I just wanted to be sure you were okay with it." Maura said with a smile.

"Yeah Maur… You definitely have my consent for…" Jane was interrupted by Maura's hand grazing her ribs. She couldn't seem to remember what they had been talking about and simply groaned.

Jane decided she was tired of letting Maura have all the fun and she leaned back slightly so that she could pull the hem of Maura's sweater up, revealing the pale skin of Maura's stomach. She ran her fingers along the tender skin there and then quickly moved them up higher, running them over Maura's ribs and stopping just before she got to the band of Maura's bra. She tentatively slid a finger under the black lace there. Maura seemed to understand that Jane wasn't sure what to do next. Jane had taken her own bra off of course but she'd never attempted to take another woman's off. "No wonder guys have such problems with it" she thought to herself. Maura thankfully had mercy on her and sat up slightly, reaching behind her back to unhook it.

Jane pushed the sweater up more, revealing all of Maura's teal and black lace bra. She gently pulled it off her and tossed it on the floor. Coming back to focus on Maura she simply stared at Maura's breasts. She would have never imagined that another woman's body could turn her on so much. Maura simply watched Jane taking it all in. She smiled and grabbed Jane's hand bringing it to her breast, "You don't have to just look Jane…"

Jane was thankful for Maura taking the lead and she caressed and stroked one breast before moving to the other. She then leaned down, kissing softly up Maura's stomach, to her ribs and eventually her breasts, taking as much time as she could. She wanted to revel in the feeling of what she was doing. Maura had her eyes closed but a smile played on her lips and she was obviously enjoying Jane's hands on her body. Jane bent back down, licking and sucking on the tender skin of Maura's neck before moving down to kiss and suck at a nipple. Maura gasped at this and moaned softly, threading her hand through Jane's hair.

Maura then pulled her hands out, reaching down insistently for the hem of Jane's t-shirt. She pulled it over Jane's head in one swift movement and made a noise not unlike a growl when she saw that Jane wasn't wearing a bra underneath it. She moved her hands up Jane's stomach to cup her breasts. Jane leaned back, her hands idle at her sides, she had completely forgotten what she had been doing before Maura touched her. Maura pulled herself up, her hands on either of Jane's hips as she kissed and sucked on Jane's breasts. Jane moaned loudly and closed her eyes, allowing herself to focus on the feeling of Maura's tongue on her skin. As Maura's mouth worked on Jane's breasts and neck, her hands played across Jane's lower stomach. Maura ran a fingernail near the top of her jeans and Jane shivered. She pulled back, slightly breathless.

"Um, Maur." She said, attempting to steady her breathing and get some oxygen back to her brain. "Do you mind if we, um, go slow?" Jane asked, glancing down at Maura's hand on her jeans.

"Of course!" Maura exclaimed pulling her hand back and settling it on Jane's side.

"I mean, I like all of this." Jane replied gesturing between her and Maura's chests. "But I'm uh, just not sure about _that_." She finished up lamely, feeling like an idiot.

"No. It's completely fine." Maura assured her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Do you want to go lay down?"

"Only if you're coming with me." Jane replied with a grin.

Maura led the way to be the bedroom and she pulled Jane into the bed next to her. Jane landed directly next to the blonde and Maura snuggled up beside her, wrapping an arm around Jane's stomach.

"You know this is how I woke up this morning?" Jane asked.

"Quite a preview of times to come now wasn't it." Maura replied with a impish grin.

**- I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up this pace of two chapters a day, but I'll try to keep updating at least once a day! :) **


	5. Swimmingly

**- AH! Sorry it's been so long. I said I would try to upload a chapter a day so of course I immediately got writers block and couldn't write. :) **

Jane woke up a few hours later to her stomach growling loudly. Her body was still intertwined with Maura's, her arms around Maura's waist. She tried to ignore her stomach, wondering how she could possibly be hungry when she'd eaten such a big breakfast only a few hours before.

Jane glanced over at Maura and saw that she was still asleep. She flipped over, moving close to the blonde and burrowing her face in Maura's hair. Maura stirred and stoked Jane's side absentmindedly.

"How can I possibly be hungry already?" Jane asked.

"Mmmm?" Maura mumbled, her voice still thick with sleep.

"I'm gonna run downstairs, grab us some sandwiches or something." Jane replied making a move to get out of bed.

"Hey." Maura said and grabbed Jane's arm as she was attempting to get up. She pulled the brunette back down beside her. "I can order us some food."

"No its not a big deal. I'll just run downstairs. I feel like I haven't done anything today." Jane replied, tracing her finger along Maura's jawline.

"You don't really do relaxing vacations do you?" Maura asked with a grin.

"Nope. Not at all."

After lunch the women were lying in bed again. Jane felt that in spite of her idleness she could lay next to the blonde forever. Maura was tracing invisible patterns on Jane's bare arms when she stopped and sat up suddenly.

"Let's go to the pool!" Maura exclaimed.

"Uh, Maura I don't know if you've noticed but we're in Chicago. In January. And it's like 10 degrees outside." Jane said raising her eyebrows.

"No, I know that. There's an indoor pool here, or better yet there's a hot tub!"

Jane grinned at Maura's excitement but added, "Maur, I didn't bring a swimsuit. I didn't really figure I'd need one in Oregon."

"Oh thats okay I've got an extra." Maura said matter of factly.

"You mean an extra bikini?" Jane asked incredulously. "Uh no. I don't think so."

"Oh c'mon Jane. It'll be fun!" Maura said, pouting slightly.

Jane ran her hand through her hair. "I swear you know exactly how to win me over…" Maura squealed with excitement and kissed Jane quickly on the lips before hopping of the bed and rummaging through her suitcase.

"The things I let her talk me into." Jane mumbled under her breath. Maura came back into the bedroom, two bathing suits in hand. She offered Jane a black bikini with boy shorts.

"Well at least it's black." Jane said, taking the swimsuit from Maura. Jane took it into the bathroom and reluctantly slipped it on. She looked at herself in the full length mirror on the back of the door. It wasn't that she didn't look good in a bikini, but she was usually doing something active in the water that required a rash guard or longer shorts at least.

Jane shrugged at herself and blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. She opened the bathroom door to find Maura already dressed in a quite minuscule bright blue bikini.

"Uh whoa." Jane said simply.

"What?" Maura asked glancing away from the mirror where she had been concentrating while french braiding her hair.

"Uh.. Nothing." Jane tried to recover and pick her jaw up off the ground. The barely there swimsuit accentuated all of Maura's _assets. _"You uh… just look really good… in that."

"Oh, thanks!" Maura said, her face brightened by a smile. She gave up on the braid and simply left her hair down coming over to run her hands over Jane's stomach and sides.

"You don't look to bad yourself." She said, her voice dropping an octave or so. She moved down to suck on Jane's neck and Jane closed her eyes contentedly.

"Was this idea of going to the pool really just a reason to get me in your bathing suit?" Jane asked, running her hands over Maura's back. "I mean not _your_ bathing suit…" Jane trailed off when she realized what she'd said.

Maura laughed. "Maybe…" She pulled Jane in for another kiss, but this one was deeper and more passionate than the ones before. "Besides, you can get in my bathing suit if you like…" She whispered before gently nipping on Jane's bottom lip. Jane groaned.

"Maur… You're gonna kill me."

"I could stop, if you'd like that better." Maura replied teasingly. Jane didn't respond but captured the blonde's lips again.

"Okay, seriously. We better go to the pool. I need a little dip to cool off." Jane said, pulling back and running her hands through her hair. Maura laughed and nodded her agreement.

Both women threw on some clothes to cover their suits and headed down to the first floor where the indoor pool and hot tub were.

"Ooh there's a sauna too!" Maura pointed out as they walked in. "I bet we could have fun in there."

"Only if you want to get us thrown out of the hotel." Jane said with a grin.

They walked through the doors into the pool area and Jane admired the huge windows that on nicer days would have let in some sunlight. Today they were just letting in a murky grayish light from the overcast skies. They both shed their clothes and Maura walked over to the stairs into the shallow end. Jane took a more direct route and did a graceful shallow dive into the deep end. She swam over to Maura who was sitting on one of the top steps.

"I don't think you're supposed to dive here Jane!" Maura chided. Jane responded by taking in a mouthful of water and spitting it at Maura. "Haha, very funny." Maura said trying and failing to keep a straight face. Jane swam closer and grabbed Maura's hands, pulling her under the water.

"Good grief, how old are you Jane?" Maura sputtered as she came up from underwater.

"Not nearly as old as I appear." Jane responded leaning back to float on her back. The water was the perfect temperature and Jane enjoyed the view of the blue and green tiled ceiling above the pool.

Maura and Jane were the only ones that had ventured to the pool that afternoon and Jane enjoyed having it to themselves. After floating and swimming for a while Maura suggested they try out the hot tub.

"Ahh." Jane sighed, sinking into the frothy, hot water. Maura climbed in and settled herself next to Jane, throwing her legs into Jane's lap. Jane ran her hands over the soft skin of Maura's calves and then up to her thighs. Maura slid one arm behind Jane, caressing the skin on her lower back. Jane felt tingles in the base of her spine and had to suppress a shiver of excitement.

Maura floated out to the middle of the small tub, dipping under the water to wet her hair and when she came up she swam back to Jane and sat straddling Jane's lap.

"Seriously it's all I can do to not undress you right here." Maura whispered, leaning in close to Jane's ear. Jan swallowed hard and stared back at the beautiful blonde, suddenly rendered speechless. Jane simply ran her hands over Maura's stomach and around to her back. She pulled her in closer until she could feel the heat of Maura's body on hers.

"I wouldn't object, but I don't think we should take the chance of getting caught." Jane said, leaning forward to nip at the tender skin on Maura's neck. Maura arched her back and groaned quietly.

"You know, I think I'm done with the hot tub." She said before capturing Jane's lips in a fierce kiss. "What do you say we take this upstairs?" She asked with a devilish grin.

**- I promise there is some actual smut coming! Thanks again for the favorites and reviews! I appreciate them all. **


	6. Goodnight Jane

Jane fumbled in her pocket for the key to the room as Maura ran her hands impatiently over Jane's hips from behind. She leaned in to kiss the back of Jane's neck and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist.

"Uh Maur, you're not really making this any easier." Jane said as she finally fished the key out of her pocket and slid it through the card reader.

"Oh really?" Maura asked, not taking her hands off of Jane as she pushed her forward into the suite.

Maura pushed the brunette up against the wall, pinning her there with her arms on Jane's hips while she pushed the door shut with her foot. Maura slid her hands up Jane's arms, pinning them above her head on the wall. She leaned in and kissed Jane lustfully.

"When did you get so dominant?" Jane asked, a look of astonishment on her face. "I never would have imagined you as a top."

"Oh there are probably a lot of things you never imagined me as." Maura said in a low sensual voice as she pulled Jane's t-shirt over her head. Next she quickly untied the black bikini top and set to work running her tongue over Jane's stomach.

Jane leaned her head back against the wall, lost in the feeling of Maura's tongue on her skin. She felt like she had been set on fire, her skin hot everywhere that Maura touched her. She pushed her hands under Maura's shirt, digging her fingernails into the blonde's back in an attempt to pull her closer. She slid her hands up, catching the still damp straps of Maura's suit.

Maura leaned back and quickly rid herself of her shirt, arching an eyebrow at Jane. Jane took the hint and quickly untied the bikini top, letting it fall to the ground. She marveled again at Maura's deliciously full breasts before taking one into her mouth. She sucked and licked, swirling her tongue around the nipple. Maura responded by arching her back, pushing herself up against Jane's mouth. Jane put her hands on Maura's shoulders and flipped her around so she was up against the wall. Jane pulled her fingernails down Maura's sides before sliding a finger under the waistband of the blonde's pants. Maura groaned loudly and bucked her hips, trying to find contact with Jane's body.

Jane changed tactics and grabbed Maura's forearms, twisting them behind her back with one hand. With the other hand she caressed Maura's face, running her thumb over the other woman's slightly parted lips. Maura opened her eyes and Jane saw that they were darker than their normal green and colored with lust.

"I'm not hurting you am I?" Jane asked, leaning down to nip at Maura's ear.

"No… No its good." Maura answered before moaning into Jane's hair. "Bedroom." Maura said, half question half command.

Jane was plenty happy to oblige, following the blonde through the living room and into the bedroom. Maura was unzipping her pants on the way, dropping to the ground in the doorway of the bedroom leaving her in only her bikini bottoms. She turned out and lowered her gaze to Jane's sweatpants.

"Want me to help you out of those?" She asked, coming to put her hands on Jane's hips before kissing her deeply.

Jane nodded, mutely. She watched as Maura undid the drawstring on the sweat pants slowly. Taking the time to steal a glance up at Jane's face, she flashed her a grin. Maura then bent down to kiss Jane's lower stomach softly before slowly sliding the pants down Jane's legs. She ran her hands back up the soft, muscular skin there before holding out her hand so that Jane could step out of the pants. Maura looked up, locking eyes with Jane and Jane felt something inside of her shift. If she'd been hesitant before she definitely wasn't now.

Maura still had a hold of Jane's hand and led her the few steps to the bed. The maid had obviously been in to clean the room while they had been out the pool because the bed was made and the pillows had been rearranged.

"I think we're going to mess up all of the maid's handiwork." Jane said with a grin. Maura turned behind her to look at the bed and then turned back to Jane.

"Oh well. That's what I'm paying the big bucks for." Maura laughed. She pulled Jane down on the bed before crawling on top of her. Maura straddled Jane's legs, running her hands up Jane's sides before bringing them to the brunette's breasts. She caressed them, rolling a nipple between her fingers causing Jane to moan loudly. Maura bent down, her lips covering Jane's. She thrust her tongue forward hungrily and Jane readily accepted it into her mouth, their tongues dancing feverishly.

Maura kept her mouth on Jane's but let her hand wander down Jane's stomach. She trailed her fingertips along the waistband of Jane's bottoms and pulled her fingernails lightly across Jane's upper thighs. Maura could feel Jane's breath hitch in her throat and her hips came up slightly, wanting more contact with Maura's hand.

Maura ran her hand ever so lightly across Jane's swim suit bottom.

"Damn Maur." Jane said, pulling away breathlessly. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her breathing was ragged.

"What Jane?" Maura asked teasingly. "Do you want me to get rid of them?" Jane simply nodded her agreement. Maura leaned down and using her teeth pulled Jane's bottoms off, then threw them on the floor behind her. When she crawled back up to Jane she had her eyes open staring in amazement at Maura.

"Jesus Maura." Jane said, her eyes wide. Maura simply grinned and brought her attention back to Jane's body. She leaned down, running her fingers across Jane's inner thighs and then bending down to lick the sensitive skin there. Looking up at Jane's face she saw she'd shut her eyes again and was biting on her lower lip.

Maura pulled her hand away and Jane's eyes opened quickly. "Maura…" Jane said pleadingly. She felt that if Maura didn't touch her she might explode into a million tiny pieces.

Maura grinned and moved up to kiss Jane deeply. She plunged her tongue into Jane's mouth and then moved her hand down to stroke Jane's clit. Jane gasped into Maura's mouth and pushed her hips up, pushing herself against Maura's hand. Maura moved her mouth down to Jane's neck, allowing Jane to gulp some much needed oxygen. She continued gently stroking Jane and Maura could tell she was getting impatient. Finally after another minute or so, Maura slipped a finger inside Jane and hearing her sharp increase in breathing and feeling how turned on she was, Maura figured it was okay to slip another finger in too.

Jane pushed her hips up, angling them towards Maura's fingers and Maura sped up her pace. Jane matched her perfectly and she could feel that her orgasm was tantalizingly close.

"Almost there." Jane manage to groan out and Maura smiled, turned on by Jane's face and the way her body was writhing under Maura's touch.

Suddenly Maura could feel Jane's muscles tightening around her and she slowed her fingers, allowing Jane to ride out her orgasm. After the waves stopped, Maura pulled herself off of Jane and lay beside her as the brunettes breathing slowed.

Jane's brain felt blissfully empty as the blood returned to other parts of her body. Maura stroked her curls and planted soft kisses on her shoulders and neck. When Jane finally returned to her senses enough, she turned to face the blonde and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Maura could feel the smile on Jane's lips and she kissed her slowly.

After a few minutes Jane pulled back. "That was… I…" She was unable to adequately described what she had just experienced. Maura placed her finger on Jane's lips.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything." Maura said softly and Jane kissed her again, reveling in the taste of the blonde and suddenly barely able to keep her eyes open. Maura pushed Jane's hair out of her eyes and then lay down with her head on Jane's shoulder, snuggling close to the brunette.

"Goodnight Jane."

**- I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the wait! Thanks for reading! **


	7. The morning after

Jane woke the next morning to the sound of a babbling brook, which was confusing because she didn't remember there being a brook in the hotel room the night before.

Jane opened her eyes to find the source of the noise but the first thing she saw was Maura, or more specifically Maura'a naked ass, in downward dog on the floor next to the bed. After staring for a few moments she finally located the babbling brook source as a nature channel playing on the TV.

"Not that I don't absolutely appreciate the view, but are you really doing yoga naked?" Jane asked incredulously, her eyes having found their way back to Maura's body.

"You should try it sometime. Its actually very relaxing." Maura said, not changing position. "It really helps connect your mind and body."

"I'll take your word for it." Jane replied. " I'll just keep admiring the view from up here."

Maura moved into cobra and finished her morning yoga session. She stood and stretched her hands above her head then crawled back into bed.

"Good morning." She said, placing a kiss on Jane's lips.

"Mmm. Morning to you too." Jane replied, pulling the blonde closer to her. "Sorry I fell asleep so quickly last night. We didn't even eat dinner."

"That's okay I was pretty tired after the day anyway." Maura said with a grin. She leaned in to kiss Jane again softly but insistently.

"I was asleep so quickly last night that I didn't have a chance to return the favor." Jane said, her voice slightly gravelly as she ran her hands over Maura's body. "But it seems I've got a bit of free time now…"

She climbed on top of Maura with a slight growl and Maura grinned up at her. Jane ran her hands over Maura's stomach then crawled up to kiss the blonde fiercely.

"You look so hot doing yoga naked." Jane said, accentuating each word with a kiss.

"Mmm. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Maura replied running her hands through Jane's hair and then pulling the brunette's face towards hers. Jane obliged, kissing her deeply while their tongues darted in and out. Jane continued kissing Maura but let her hands travel down, caressing Maura's breasts. She rolled a nipple between her fingers and then gave it a pinch experimentally. Maura groaned loudly in response and Jane repeated the motion on the other nipple. Maura's eyes were wide open as she gazed at Jane. Jane grinned like a kid in a candy store and moved down to suck and nip at Maura's breasts.

"Ugh, fuuuck Jane." Maura groaned again. Jane glanced up at Maura and smiled widely, she was not all that surprised that the doctor had a filthy mouth in bed.

"Oh yeah?" Jane asked, circling a nipple with her tongue before nipping at it gently. "I think I may have found a serious weakness of yours."

Maura tugged a hand through her hair as her eyes darkened with anticipation. "You're going to kill me Jane."

Jane grinned devilishly and moved down Maura's stomach kissing and biting at the skin there. She ran her tongue down one of Maura's hip bones and then the other. She could hear Maura's breathing hitch and quicken. Jane then moved down, bypassing the area she knew Maura most wanted her to touch. She ran her fingernails down Maura's upper thighs before placing a trail of kisses up each one, each time stopping just before she got to Maura's center. Jane could feel Maura quivering with excitement and she crawled back up Maura's body to kiss her and look into her eyes.

Maura opened her eyes when Jane took her mouth away from her legs. She looked pleadingly at Jane.

"Please Jane?" She asked breathlessly.

Jane placed a soft kiss on the blonde's mouth and slipped a hand between her legs. She softly stroked Maura's clit and watched Maura's eyes close again. "Is this what you wanted?" Jane asked her voice dropping an octave.

"Yes. Jane please!"

"You want me to fuck you?" Jane asked, immensely enjoying watching Maura squirm.

"Oh.. Jane. Please just fuck me!" Maura cried out through gritted teeth.

Jane grinned and stroked Maura harder, watching the blonde's chest rising and falling with each breath. She slipped a finger inside the blonde. "Oh you're so wet, aren't you?" Jane whispered, leaning up by Maura's ear before nipping at her earlobe. Maura simply nodded, her eyes still closed, apparently focusing on Jane's hand inside her. Jane slipped another finger in and Maura moaned loudly, bucking her hips up against Jane. Jane leaned down to suck on the skin at Maura's collarbone and neck while keeping up a good rhythm inside Maura.

After only a few minutes, Jane suddenly felt Maura's muscles seize up and Maura cried out as she came, her body shuddering slightly. Jane eased off of Maura and lay down next to her, stroking her hair as Maura's breathing returned to normal.

"Jesus Jane." Maura said when she was finally able to speak again. "Are you sure you've never done that before?"

Later that morning after a simple breakfast of coffee and bagels, Jane and Maura were reading the newspaper.

"You know I think I'm going to take a bath. I've been dying to use that huge bathtub since we got here." Maura said happily. She refolded the paper and stacked it on top of the other parts they'd already read. She got up and headed towards the bathroom, undoing the fluffy, white hotel robe on her way. "You could join me if you want…" She said just before reaching the door to the bedroom.

Jane looked up from her paper to see that Maura had dropped the robe completely and was standing in the doorway naked. Jane licked her lips and tossed down the paper. "You don't have to ask me twice." She said with a grin, quickly shedding her own clothes on the way into the bathroom. Maura sat on the edge of the giant tub turned the taps on. Jane came up behind her and wrapped her arms around the smaller blonde. Jane pulled her up to stand so that she could kiss her gently.

"You're so beautiful Maur." Jane said, tracing her cheek with a hand. Maura blushed slightly and bent her head down.

"Thank you. But you're quite gorgeous yourself." She said shyly peering up at Jane from under her eyelashes. She was so adorable that Jane simply had to kiss her, starting at her forehead and working her way to down to the blonde's full lips.

Once the tub had filled a bit Maura slid in, sighing at the hot water. Jane climbed in, easing her way behind the blonde and allowing Maura to lean back and rest her body against Jane's. Jane kissed the back of Maura's neck and shoulders and Maura sighed contently.

"I could stay like this forever." Maura said quietly, her eyes closed.

"What about your job _Doctor Isles?_" Jane asked, teasingly. "Wouldn't you miss it."

"I suppose I would after a while, but right now I definitely do not miss it." Maura responded before turning to kiss Jane.

After quite a while in the bathtub Jane noticed that her fingers were looked like prunes. "I guess we better get out."

Maura opened her eyes as if just realizing where they were. "Oh yes. I suppose we should."

Jane stepped out and grabbed a fluffy white towel from the rack and handed it to Maura then grabbed one for herself. She wrapped herself in the towel and walked into the bedroom, flopping down on the bed.

"Oh hey, we completely forgot to check the weather or call the airline this morning." Jane said as she stared up at the ceiling.

Maura came into the bedroom in her towel. "You're right. I'd kind of forgotten that there was anything outside this hotel room…" Maura said sheepishly as she smiled at Jane.

Jane picked up the phone beside the bed and called the airline as Maura walked back in the bathroom to dry her hair. When Jane got off the phone she came into the bathroom.

"The person I talked to with the airlines said that they think there might be flights leaving this afternoon. It depends on how quickly they get the runways cleared." Jane said, a slight frown on her face.

"Well thats good news I suppose." Maura answered, putting the hair dryer back and running her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, I can't help feeling a little sad." Jane replied, pulling the blond close to her and gazing into her green eyes. "This was the unexpected vacation I didn't know I needed."

"Mine too." Maura agreed, wrapping her arms around Jane's neck before leaning in to kiss the brunette.

**-Thanks again for reading! **


	8. Leaving on a jet plane

By the end of their third day in a snowed in Chicago, the flights finally started leaving O'Hare. Maura called to book their flight for that evening.

Jane picked up her clothes that had ended up strewn around the closet and bedroom and threw them in her suitcase. "I kind of can't believe we're finally going back to Boston."

"I know." Maura replied, somewhat sadly. She was carefully folding a dress and putting it in her garment bag. "Although you better be careful what you say or our flight might get canceled."

"Oh you wish." Jane replied with a sly grin, coming over and wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist, pulling her close. Their breath mingled for a few seconds before Jane brought her lips to Maura's gently.

"I have to admit I'm a bit afraid how all of this is going to work when we get home." Maura said, gesturing between herself and Jane.

"Oh it'll work out just fine." Jane reassured her, placing another slow kiss on Maura's lips. "We'll just be together and people will know and then they'll get over it."

"I'm a bit surprised how cavalier you're being about this Jane."

Jane shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, everybody already thought I was a dyke before. Might as well prove them right."

"You're not a dyke." Maura sad with a frown.

"Uh really?" Jane asked with an amused smile. "What would you call it exactly?"

"Well, you're more of a butch…" Maura supplied helpfully.

"Oh thank you Doctor Isles for clearing that up." Jane laughed. "Besides, who cares? Labels are for clothes."

"Says the one who cares nothing about clothing labels." Maura teased, running her hand down Jane's face.

Jane pulled on a ratty old BU sweatshirt and zipped up her suitcase. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"Oh Jane you're not really wearing that are you?" Maura asked, gesturing to the frayed sweatshirt.

"What?" Jane asked, glancing down at her worn jeans and sweatshirt that she'd paired with her favorite pair of boots. "I don't see anything wrong with this outfit. I like to be comfortable when I travel."

She moved over and placed a kiss on the blonde's lips, then put her hands on Maura's hips. "Besides not all of us choose to fly in high fashion couture." She said, rubbing her hands along Maura hips. Maura was wearing a tight grey pencil skirt, blue silky top paired with a sweater and impossibly high heels.

Maura smiled at Jane's gentle teasing but pulled an oversized black sweater of her bag. "Will you at least wear this?" She asked holding the soft sweater out to Jane.

"I suppose I could be convinced." Jane said arching her eyebrow playfully at Maura. Maura came over and ran her hands under Jane's sweatshirt before pulling it over the brunette's head. She kissed the soft skin of Jane's stomach before moving up to suck on her collarbone.

Maura gently slipped the sweater over Jane's head and then moved to kiss her again softly on the lips. "Much better." She breathed, in between kisses.

After a short cab ride to the airport and a few minutes in the line to get through security both women were comfortably ensconced on a couch in the frequent flyer lounge waiting for their flight to be called.

Maura had pulled a medical journal out of her bag and was pretending to read it but Jane could tell that her eyes weren't scanning the page. Jane put a hand on Maura's thigh, covered by her skirt, "Maur, I can tell that you're not reading that."

Maura looked up, her mind obviously elsewhere. "Hmm?" She asked, focusing her attention on Jane.

"Never mind." Jane answered with a laugh. "You look like your brain's a million miles away."

"Oh yes. Well I was just…" Maura trailed off, chewing on her bottom lip.

Jane raised her eyebrows, there was obviously something that she wanted to say and Maura wasn't normally one to be tongue tied. Jane took Maura's hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

Maura took a deep breath then said, "I was just wondering if you would be my girlfriend?"

Jane smiled and leaned forward to kiss the blonde. "Of course." She said, running a finger along Maura's cheek. Maura smiled widely at Jane, her face relaxing.

"I was afraid you would say no. I mean its only been a couple of days." Maura said.

"Oh I think its been a long time in the making." Jane replied with a grin.

Over the loudspeaker Jane heard their flight being called for boarding. "We better go."

Jane took Maura's hand in hers and pulled her off the couch. They walked out of the lounge and to their gate. After having their tickets scanned the women made their way down the jetway still hand in hand.

"To a new chapter in our life." Jane said with a smile before kissing Maura on the cheek.

"To a new chapter."

**-Thanks for reading! I've got a bit of a dilemma. Technically this story is finished but I'm not done playing with these characters and I've got more planned for them. So I'm trying to decide if I want to make the stories in this little universe I've created all part of one fic or separate ones… I'm open to suggestions. Thank you for all the reviews!**


	9. Domino Effect Chapter 1

**Domino effect**

— **This takes place roughly a couple of weeks after the end of The Perfect Storm. And I honestly have no idea where we are in the tv series timeline… I'll figure it out if it becomes applicable. **

Jane and Maura were sitting at the Dirty Robber one friday night after a long day at work. Jane was nursing a beer and Maura had her requisite glass of wine. They had been talking about the case they were working on when Maura switched topics.

"Jane, I think we need to go on a real date." Maura said, taking a sip of her wine and looking at Jane expectantly.

"Okay…." Jane said, a bit uncertain where this topic had come from.

"I mean we're together, you know and I'm fine that we're keeping it quiet for now, but I do think we need to go on a date." Maura said, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Like where we both dress up and I bring you flowers and take you out to an expensive restaurant?" Jane asked uncertainly. She hadn't really ever had to think about the specifics of it before.

"Well, you don't have to do everything." Maura said as her cheeks reddened slightly. "I've actually sort of already got an idea. If you don't mind I mean…"

"No, by all means Maur you can plan it. I had no idea what to do for a 'real first date' anyway." Jane said adding the air quotes with a grin.

Maura smiled, obviously pleased with herself. "Well then I think we should go tomorrow."

"What if I have plans?" Jane asked, pretending to be insulted.

"Oh please. What would you be doing?" Maura asked with a smile.

"I'm wounded." Jane said with a slight pout. "I have stuff that I do… you know, with people."

Maura laughed and reached under the table to squeeze Jane's knee. "Face it Jane, we already spend most of our time together."

"Okay, okay." Jane acquiesced. "So where are we going on this 'first official date' then?"

"Nope, you're not getting that information from me." Maura said playfully. "It's a surprise. I'll pick you up around one tomorrow afternoon."

"You're going to drive?" Jane asked with a slight whine, she really preferred to be in control of the car.

"Oh be quiet, Jane." Maura admonished. "I am a perfectly capable driver."

"Yeah but you actually drive the speed limit!" Jane argued. "I can't stand it."

"Speed limits exist for a reason."

Jane through up her hands in surrender. "Oh alright. I'll be ready tomorrow. Can I wear jeans or do I need to dress up?"

"You can wear whatever you want." Maura said with a smile knowing that this would make Jane happy.

"Jeans it is!" Jane said. "Well we better get going, its getting late."

Both women walked out to Jane's cruiser and Jane drove the short distance to Maura's house. Jane got out and walked Maura to her door.

She leaned down to kiss Maura on the lips. After a few seconds she slid her hand through Maura's hair, deepening the kiss. Maura kissed her back excitedly and Jane reached behind her to open the door that Maura had already unlocked. Maura put her hand on Jane's on top of the doorknob, stopping her.

Jane broke the kiss. "You don't want me to come in?"

Maura ran a hand through her hair. "No I do, but… maybe you should go home tonight. You know we have our date tomorrow and its not much of date if we're already together." Maura said, examining Jane's face for her reaction. "Besides it will be more fun this way! We can both get dressed separately and then we'll be excited to see each other."

"Alright, alright." Jane said, placing a finger on Maura's lips. "Too bad you're so adorable when you're excited about something."

Maura smiled and kissed Jane once more before slipping inside her house. Jane stayed on Maura's stoop for a minute gazing up at the winter sky and watching her breath form little clouds in front of her. She knew nothing about dating a woman. Even though they'd practically been dating for years, the reality of a first date was different than just sleeping together and falling in love on an accidental trip. Jane barely knew how to date men, she couldn't even fathom how to date a woman.

Jane headed back to her car, resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn't be able to figure it out by tomorrow anyway. She also trusted that Maura knew exactly what she was doing.

—

Jane spent most of Saturday morning watching some ball games that she'd recorded before she decided to go on a run. She relished the way the freezing cold air seemed to clear her head. When she got home she took a shower and blow dried her hair. Standing in her towel in front of her closet she rifled through her clothes trying to decide what to wear.

Jane's phone buzzed on her bed. She picked it up and saw that Maura had texted her. **Can we meet at my house? I'm not quite ready yet. **Jane texted her back that that was fine.

Jane returned to her closet and finally settled on a pair of her nicer jeans and a long sleeved dark blue shirt. She shook her curls over her shoulders and sat down to pull on her black boots. She grabbed her coat from the hall closet and headed out to her car even though she would be a few minutes early. Jane was surprised that she was nervous about this date. It wasn't like she and Maura had never been out to eat together before. This time just felt so different to Jane.

She pulled up in front of Maura's house and rubbed her hands together anxiously. A few minutes closer to one, Jane got out of the car and went up to ring Maura's doorbell. She heard the chime echo in the house and a few seconds later the door opened. Jane was greeted by Maura wearing a brown skirt, blue v-neck sweater and brown knee high boots.

"Hey." Jane said after taking in Maura's appearance. She moved forward to kiss the blonde on the cheek.

"Hello." Maura said with a smile. "Let me just grab my coat and I'll be ready. You know I'm still driving though!" She called behind her.

Jane rolled her eyes at Maura's turned back. "Yeah I figured."

Jane led the way to Maura's Prius and got in the passenger side. "So you really won't tell me where we're going?"

"Patience Jane…" Maura said with a grin. They drove for a while in comfortable silence before Maura pulled into a parking lot. They were outside a large building, but Jane didn't recognize it as anyplace that she had ever been before.

"It's in here." Maura said, opening her door and waiting for Jane to join her. They walked in to the building through what appeared to be a back door. Jane surmised that it seemed to be some sort of museum although it was sort of hard to tell because they seemed to be in the work area.

"Uh Maura, are you sure that we're supposed to be back here?" Jane asked pointing a sign that said 'Authorized Personnel Only'.

"Yes, it's fine Jane. I'm just looking for the right door." Maura replied, seemingly absorbed by finding her way.

"Okay…" Jane muttered under her breath, deciding to instead devote her attention to watching her girlfriend's ass in her tight skirt.

"Ah, here it is." Maura said reaching a door at the end of a small hallway. She turned the handle and Jane was immediately hit with a wall of humid, fragrant air. As Maura stepped inside Jane was able to see that the room they were entering was some sort of greenhouse. There were floor to ceiling windows and row after row of plants and exotic flowers.

Jane stopped after stepping through the doorway to take in how large the space was. On one wall there were all sorts of climbing flowers and vines making their way up trellises.

"Wow, Maur." Jane said. "How did you come up with this place?"

Maura looked at Jane with a smile. "Well I've been here once before, it's attached to the Museum of Horticulture but the greenrooms aren't open year round. I pulled a few strings and I arranged this…" She said as she led Jane over to a table set up in the center of the green house. It was already heavy with food and there was a bottle of white wine in the center of the table.

"Jeeze, Maura. This is beautiful." Jane replied smiling at the blonde. "Wait, there's a Museum of Horticulture? Why does it not surprise me that you've been here before."

Maura ignored Jane's jab and pulled out a chair at the table. "I thought you might like it. It's a bit more unique than a simple date out at a restaurant."

"Uh yeah, I'd say so." Jane agreed, taking the seat across from Maura.

"Wine?" Maura asked as she poured herself a glass.

"Sure." Jane said, she figured if Maura had picked it out it was a good one. Jane picked up one the silver platters revealing roasted chicken and vegetables, under another there was potatoes. "Mmm this looks good." Jane said taking the serving spoon and spooning some on to her plate and then Maura's.

"Thank you." Maura replied as she sipped her wine. They enjoyed a comfortable lunch, discussing everything from their recent case to a TV show they'd both watched the week before.

After lunch the women strolled up and down the aisles, admiring the flowers. Maura was knowledgable about many of the different species and Jane didn't even mind her google-talk for once. She took Maura's hand in hers and enjoyed the feeling of it in hers while they explored the greenhouse.

After they had seen all of the greenhouse they went back to the table and Maura walked over to a small refrigerator that Jane hadn't noticed before. She pulled out another, smaller platter and opened it to reveal chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

"I remember you saying once how much you liked these." Maura said with a shy smile.

"Oh yeah." Jane agreed. "I love chocolate covered strawberries!"

Maura picked one up off the platter and brought it over to Jane. She perched herself in Jane's lap and moved it toward the brunette's lips. Jane opened her mouth, enjoying the closeup view of Maura's cleavage. She ate the strawberry in a few bites and then leaned up to kiss Maura slowly.

"Mmm. You taste good." Maura whispered, kissing Jane again. When she pulled back Jane picked up a strawberry and offered it to Maura.

She opened her mouth, staring lustfully at Jane as she took a slow bite. She finished the strawberry and then bent down, pulling Jane's fingers in her mouth and sucking the juice and chocolate off of each one. Jane simply stared up at the blonde, entranced by her mouth. Maura finished sucking and grinned at Jane.

"Are you even aware of the effect you have on me?" Jane asked.


	10. Winter night

Domino Effect Chapter 2

Jane soon realized that they needed to be heading home, things were getting a bit too heated in the greenhouse.

"C'mon. Let's head to my house." Jane said, kissing Maura quickly on the lips and picking up Maura's purse. Jane then grabbed her hand and practically dragged the blonde out of the museum. They emerged as the winter sky started darkening into night. Jane checked her watch and saw that it was almost five.

"Let me have your keys." Jane commanded, holding out her hand as Maura searched through her purse.

"Why are you in such a hurry Jane?" Maura asked with an impish grin as she slid into the passenger seat. Jane looked over at Maura incredulously before realizing she was teasing her. Jane leaned over and kissed the blonde passionately in response and then started the car, putting it into drive.

Their drive to Jane's apartment was much shorter with Jane at the wheel but it seemed too long to Jane with Maura running her fingers up Jane's wrist and forearm.

She parked Maura's Prius on the street and hopped out, hurrying around to Maura's side of the car. Night had completely fallen now and the streetlights had come on, casting their orange glow over the two women.

"I can't believe it's dark at 5:30." Jane muttered, opening the blonde's door. Jane offered her hand to Maura and then helped the blonde up out of the car. Jane pulled her in close, gazing into Maura's green eyes. Maura smiled slowly at her and Jane grinned back before capturing the blonde's lips in a fierce kiss. She yanked her house keys out of her pocket and pulled Maura along beside her, unwilling to let go of the blonde's waist.

Maura leaned up against Jane's door staring at her and Jane fumbled with the lock. Finally the lock clicked and Jane pushed the door open, accidentally causing Maura to lose her balance in the process. She stumbled for a step before catching herself on the hall table as Jane shut the door.

"Sorry about that." Jane breathed, closing the space between them and moving down to kiss Maura's neck.

"S'okay." Maura mumbled through layers of Jane's hair. Jane continued to kiss Maura's neck, moving down to her collarbone and pushing the sweater aside to get at her shoulder. Impatiently, Maura pulled her sweater over her head and tossed it on the floor, allowing Jane full access to her chest. Jane dipped her head down, running her tongue along Maura's sternum, while reaching behind the blonde to unclasp her bra. She let it fall to the floor and stared lustfully up at Maura for a few seconds before flipping Maura around so that she could find the zipper for the blonde's skirt. After locating the hidden zipper she undid it and ran her hand's down Maura's hips, freeing her of the brown fabric. Maura quickly bent down to unzip her boots and kicked them off as well.

Jane took in the view of Maura's mostly naked body before reaching behind the blonde, quickly sweeping the smaller woman up into her arms. Maura let out a sound of surprise but grinned up at Jane adoringly. Jane quickly carried Maura into her bedroom, depositing her on the bed. Jane climbed up next to her and Maura reached up to pull Jane's long sleeved shirt over her head. Jane made a move to reach behind her and undo her bra but Maura shook her head and gestured for Jane to turn around so that Maura could do it herself.

Jane flipped around, sitting with her back to Maura. Maura pushed Jane's unruly hair aside, and then drug her fingernails down Jane's back. Jane arched back into the blonde's hands as Maura undid Jane's bra and let it fall forward. She then pulled Jane, turning her back around to face Maura before pushing her down on the bed. Maura climbed up, straddling Jane's hips before leaning down to suck on Jane's nipple. She rolled it around in her mouth before nipping at it slightly. Jane closed her eyes and moaned loudly.

Maura then moved down Jane's body, coming to the taut skin around Jane's hip bones. She quickly unzipped the brunette's jeans and pulled them open slightly before leaning down to suck on the soft skin there. Maura concentrated on one spot, sucking and biting at the skin causing Jane to squirm underneath her. After a few minutes she pulled back with a grin, to examine the dark red spot that had formed where her mouth had been. Jane opened her eyes to see Maura grinning up at her, before diving down to repeat the action near Jane's other hip bone.

Jane couldn't stop her body from writhing under the blonde's mouth. "Jesus, Maura." Jane muttered through gritted teeth.

Maura simply grinned before running her tongue up Jane's stomach coming up to hover with her face above Jane's. Maura leaned down to kiss Jane slowly but Jane was too impatient for that Maura's speed and frantically kissed Maura back. Maura responded by pushing her tongue into the brunette's mouth before pulling back and biting at Jane's lip. This elicited a low moan from Jane's throat.

"Maura…" Jane practically whined.

"Yes Jane?" Maura asked with a teasing smile.

"Maura, I need you to…" Jane opened her eyes and licked her lips.

Maura's hands danced over Jane's hips, playing underneath the fabric of her jeans. "Need me to what?"

Jane shook her head, trying to clear it. "Make me come." Jane said her voice low and gravelly.

Maura beamed down at the brunette. "Oh, I'll make you come." Maura growled as she grabbed both sides of of Jane's jeans pulling them off in one swift movement. "I'm going to make you scream my name." Maura continued, as she reached down and yanked off Jane's boy shorts with her hand.

Maura settled between Jane's legs and started licking the sensitive skin on the inside of Jane's thighs. Jane's muscles twitched and Maura could hear moans of approval from the brunette's mouth. She reached a finger up, stroking Jane. "Oh you're so ready for me." She said quietly.

Jane was simply focused on keeping herself together. It seemed to require more effort than ever before, she felt that if she didn't concentrate her body might fly into a million pieces.

Maura went back to licking and sucking at Jane's thighs and then slipped a finger inside Jane, hitching it upwards sharply. Jane gasped and let her hips buck against Maura's hand. Maura bent back down, deciding that she had waited long enough to taste the brunette. She circled Jane's clit with her tongue, never stopping the movements with her finger.

"Fuck Maura!" Jane screamed out. Maura grinned and added another finger, thrusting in and out of Jane at a fast pace. Jane's mind couldn't keep up with the movements and for a moment everything was white hot. Jane's orgasm crashed over her and her mind was filled only with the sensations her body was experiencing.

Jane was barely even aware of what Maura was doing until she felt soft hands on her cheek, then her forehead, brushing back a curl. Maura planted a soft kiss on Jane's mouth and Jane could taste her own arousal.

"Holy shit, Maura." Jane said when she had finally gotten some oxygen back in her lungs. Maura had lay down beside Jane and draped her arm over Jane's stomach.

"You're so beautiful this way." Maura remarked, in lieu of a reply. She stroked Jane's flushed cheeks and ran a finer over the brunette's lips.

They stayed in the same position, laying together on the bed for a while so Jane could recover. Finally feeling that she had some of her strength back Jane rolled to her side so she was facing the blonde. Maura opened her eyes and gazed happily at Jane.

"I am going to repay you for that…" Jane replied with a devilish grin. "But first I need some food to rebuild my strength!"

Maura laughed and kissed Jane softly. "I suppose that can be arranged."


	11. Dial M for murder

Jane was roused from her sleep by a persistent buzzing somewhere underneath her head. She groaned loudly and swiped her hand under the pillow, finding her cell phone. Just as she flipped it open Maura's cell phone started buzzing as well.

"Rizzoli." Jane rasped out, her voice still thick with sleep. She glanced over at the clock and saw it was only 2:30.

"This is Doctor Isles." Maura replied next to Jane, her voice as chipper as if she'd been awake for hours. Jane grimaced to herself as she listened to the police officer on the line tell her that there was a body in an abandoned warehouse. She got the address and clicked her phone shut. Maura was just finishing her call as Jane dramatically threw her head back onto the bed beside the blonde. She buried her face in Maura's hair and groaned again.

"Why is it always in the middle of the night?" Jane asked, her words muffled by blonde waves.

"Did you not get enough sleep detective?" Maura asked, flipping onto her side to face Jane.

"Very funny." Jane replied. "You are the exact reason I didn't get any sleep."

"Oh I'm sorry. By the sounds you were making I thought you appreciated my keeping you awake…" Maura teased and Jane felt herself blush dark red. Maura planted a kiss on the brunette's lips before climbing out of bed.

"I guess its a good thing I left some clothes here the other day." Maura said thoughtfully, opening the closet to pull out a dress.

Jane was still lying with her head partially covered by a pillow as she watched the blonde move around the room.

"Jane, UP!" Maura said, coming over to pull the comforter off of the brunette's bare legs. "If you get up now we could probably squeeze in a quick shower before we leave… Of course I don't think there's time for separate showers." Maura said slowly, running a finger down Jane's leg.

"Oh well, twist my arm." Jane said, feeling suddenly energized. She hopped out of bed and practically skipped down the hallway to the bathroom.

—

"Don't you think its going to be suspicious if we show up in the same car?" Jane asked as the two women made their way out of Jane's apartment twenty minutes later.

"No." Maura replied. "No one will even notice. Besides you don't really have much of a choice, your car is back at my house."

Jane huffed in annoyance but got in the passenger side of Maura's car. "Yeah, well that was poor planning on my part." She muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something?" Maura asked as she climbed into the driver's side.

"No."

"Oh don't be such a sullen child." Maura teased, reaching over to squeeze the brunette's knee before pulling out of the parking spot. Jane pretended to pout for a minute before taking the opportunity to have a little fun with Maura. She placed her hand on Maura's knee, bare because the blonde's skirt had ridden up with she sat down. Jane ran her fingertips over the skin there before sliding her hand up under the silky fabric of the skirt quickly, grazing the inside of the other woman's thigh with her fingernails. Maura gasped and attempted to swat Jane's hand away.

"Jane you're going to cause me to have a wreck!"

Jane smirked and pulled her hand back down, lacing her fingers with Maura's. "I just like to see you get all worked up."

—

After running through the protocol at the crime scene, Jane was headed to the precinct to start their investigation. They had found the body of a 17 year old boy in an abandoned warehouse, stabbed and his stomach had been cut open. Jane and Frost were working the case, trying to track down what the boy had been doing in the warehouse.

Jane finally took a break around one and headed down to the morgue to eat lunch with Maura.

"Hey Maur. Got anything?" Jane asked when she pushed open the door. Maura was at the sink washing her hands.

"I was just finishing up the autopsy. I've sent all of the samples to the lab and I should know more in a few hours." Maura replied as she turned off the water. "Just let me change and we can eat lunch."

Jane glanced around making sure none of the lab techs were present and she walked closer to the blonde, putting a hand on Maura's hip. "You don't have to change, I love your black scrubs."

"Oh yeah?" Maura asked gazing intently into Jane's eyes. Jane could see the challenge in her gaze. She was daring Jane to do something. The rational part of Jane's brain was telling her that this was not a good idea, but the other, much hornier part, was telling her that it was completely fine to lick her girlfriend's neck at work.

Jane pulled Maura in close, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman. She sucked slowly at Maura's neck before placing a kiss on her lips. The women were startled apart by a loud sound behind them.

Jane jumped back, feeling like she'd been electrocuted. Frost was standing in the doorway of the morgue, his cell phone on the floor in front of him.

"Frost!" Jane exclaimed.

"I… uh." Frost stuttered glancing back and forth between Jane and Maura. "I was just… seeing if you wanted to go out for lunch."

Jane shot him a glare that seemed to make him reconsider these words.

"But uh, obviously you have other… uh, plans." He finished lamely.

Jane sighed and Maura seemed to recover the ability to speak. "Detective Frost. I'm sorry you walked in on that. We shouldn't have been…. Well, it wasn't very professional." Maura explained, her cheeks flushing pink as she glanced at Jane.

Jane rolled her eyes, " What _Doctor _Isles is trying to say is that we're dating. There, I said it." Jane held up her hands as if surrendering.

"Oh." Frost replied quickly and then Jane's words seemed to actually sink it. "_Ohhhh."_ He said nodding his head with a smile. "Well, congratulations."

"Thank you!" Maura beamed at him as Jane ran her hand through her hair in exasperation.

"Anyway… We haven't really told anyone yet. So I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this information to yourself for now." Jane said with a frown.

"Sure. No problem." Frost said before backing out of the morgue.

"See that wasn't so bad." Maura said as she walked into her office.

Jane followed after her, "Oh really? You think it was ideal that he walked in on me _sucking_ on your neck?"

Maura looked thoughtfully at Jane. "Well not exactly, but he got the idea pretty quickly."

"Besides," Maura said, lowering her voice. "That was really hot." Jane rolled her eyes again but she couldn't help but smile at Maura.

"I'll remember that." Jane promised.

**- Sorry this update was a bit shorter. :) **


	12. Morning light

Jane was kept extremely busy over the next few days, spending all of her time working on the case. The only time she managed to see Maura was in the morgue when she was asking about lab results. Most nights she didn't leave the precinct until ten or eleven and she was back at seven the next morning. After putting in that many hours Jane was too tired to do anything more than grab some dinner and immediately fall asleep.

Jane and Maura had been keeping in touch via text and Maura understood that Jane didn't have any spare time at the moment. Jane reveled in the hard work of a good case and was proud when they continued to track down leads. She knew that she was good at her job and she was glad that Maura could understand that she needed to be able to concentrate specifically on it sometimes.

Jane was researching a possible suspect on the computer that afternoon when Maura came upstairs, dropping a sandwich on her desk.

"I figured you wouldn't have time for a real lunch, so I brought you a peanut butter and fluff." Maura said with a smile, sliding the sandwich towards Jane.

"Maur, you're the best." Jane replied, opening up the bag and biting into the sandwich immediately.

"Mmmmm." She sighed, closing her eyes in delight.

She opened her eyes to find Maura grinning down at her. Jane took in Maura's tight black dress and it's scandalously low neckline. Maura noticed Jane looking and sat on the edge of Jane's desk, leaning forward slightly to give Jane a better view. Jane had to remind herself to keep her mouth closed so that her food didn't fall out.

After a few seconds Jane cleared her throat and glanced over at Frost, who was at work behind his computer.

"Well I know you're busy, I just wanted to drop off some food for you." Maura said, her hand flitting quickly over Jane's before she turned to head back downstairs.

Jane returned to her sandwich and savored the mental image of Maura's cleavage almost as much as she enjoyed her lunch.

After finishing, she sent Maura a quick text, "**Damn, Maura. You are far too distracting in that outfit." **

"**Oh I know. :)**" Maura replied.

—

Jane finally was able to leave the precinct at ten o'clock that night and made her way to Maura's. She figured that Maura would have already eaten dinner but she was tired and all she wanted to do was be with the blonde.

She parked her cruiser on the street in front of Maura's and opened the door with her key. "Maur?" She called as she pulled off her boots, leaving them in the entryway.

"In here." Maura called from her office.

Jane plodded into the office and sank down in one of Maura's antique armchairs. Maura was doing something on her computer but closed it when Jane came in.

"How's the case going?" Maura asked.

"Ugh. We've hit a dead end, Cavanaugh finally let us go home because we weren't getting anywhere." Jane said rubbing her temples. "I just know there's something else out there. Something we haven't tried…"

"You'll find it." Maura assured her. "You always do. Do you want some dinner? I already ate but I can make you something."

"Nah, I ate some dinner earlier."

"From the vending machine?" Maura asked, coming around her desk and pulling Jane up off the chair.

"No!" Jane said but Maura shot her a look that said 'I know you're lying'. "Okay, yes."

"C'mon let me at least fix you a sandwich. How about a BLT?" Maura said pulling the brunette into the kitchen. She deposited Jane into a chair at the bar and bustled around the kitchen getting ingredients and a pan.

Jane silently accepted Maura bossing her around. Besides, it was kind of nice to have someone look after her. Maura plopped a beer down in front of Jane and went back to the stovetop. She hummed quietly as she cooked and Jane was too tired to do much other than watch the blonde. She loved the way Maura was seemingly unaware of how cute she was, even in her smallest gestures. Jane smiled at the thought and Maura turned around, presenting Jane with a perfect BLT on a plate.

"What are you smiling about?" Maura asked with a grin.

"Oh I was just thinking how cute you are." Jane replied as Maura came around the bar to stand next to Jane. Jane wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and nuzzled against her side.

"Well thank you. You can be quite adorable at times too." Maura replied, a hand in Jane's hair.

"I don't think anyone has ever called me adorable before." Jane scoffed.

"Well maybe there has never been the right person around to bring it out of you." Maura replied and leaned down to kiss Jane sweetly. "Now eat!"

"Yes ma'am." Jane replied with a quick salute that caused Maura to laugh.

Jane ate her sandwich quickly, not realizing how hungry she was until she tasted it.

"Thank you for the sandwich." She said, placing a kiss on Maura's forehead before she moved to put her plate in the dishwasher.

"Mhhmm." Maura replied and Jane noticed her eyes looked heavy.

"C'mon bedtime." Jane said, slinking her arm around the blonde's waist as they walked together down the hallway.

Upon entering the bedroom Maura flopped face down onto the bed fully dressed.

"Maura, in your dress?" Jane gasped in fake horror. Maura mumbled something that was unintelligible through the layers of down comforter.

Jane crawled onto to the bed, straddling either side of the blonde's body. She leaned down and whispered in Maura's ear, "Do you want me to take it off for you?"

At this Maura flipped her head to one side and grinned up at Jane. "Oh yes."

Jane gathered Maura's curls up and laid them aside, then she kissed down the blonde's exposed neck. She kissed until she reached the zipper and she deftly unzipped it, running her hands down the newly exposed skin. She pulled the cloth aside to reveal a black lace bra and matching underwear. Jane ran her tongue down the blonde's spine and Maura moaned with her eyes closed. She moved to slip the dress off of Maura's shoulders and Maura flipped onto back to help Jane.

Jane carefully folded the dress up and laid it on the dresser before climbing back into the bed. Maura had curled up on her side, wearing only her underwear and her eyes were closed again. Jane leaned in to kiss Maura's neck softly. "Are you asleep?"

"Mmmm. You feel so good, but I'm just so…" Maura's words were interrupted by a yawn. "Tired."

"It's okay, Maur. Get some rest. I'll be here in the morning." Jane said as she shimmied out of her pants and pulled her shirt over her head. She curled her body around Maura's and lay her head on the blonde's shoulder. Maura's deep breathing signaled to Jane that she was mostly likely already asleep.

"I love you Maura." Jane whispered softly.

—

The next morning Jane was woken up by Maura placing light kisses down her back. She cracked an eye open and saw that it was still early morning, with only grey light filtering in through the curtains.

Jane murmured her appreciation and Maura crawled up to kiss Jane sweetly.

"Good morning." Maura said with a smile.

"Mmmmm." Was all Jane could reply as she closed her eyes again.

"Maura, I'm sorry to wake you up so early, but-"

Jane's eyes flew open at the unmistakable sound of her mother's voice in Maura's bedroom. Angela was standing in the open doorway to Maura's room and staring at the two women, her mouth hanging open.

"Ma!" Jane exclaimed, groping for the sheet to cover herself up.

"Angela?" Maura asked, visibly rattled.

"Oh my God." Angela replied, putting a hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have barged in here like this."

"Ya think?" Jane remarked snidely.

"I just…" Angela continued, searching for words. "Jane, I had no idea! How long has this… uh been going on?"

Jane sighed and rubbed her hands together nervously. "Um, a few weeks." Jane couldn't shake the feeling that she was a teenager who had been caught drinking. Angela peered back and forth between Jane and Maura. Maura smiled weakly but Jane could see she was unsure what Angela's reaction was going to be.

"Well you know I still expect grand-babies!" Angela finally replied after a long silence.

"Ma! Really?" Jane asked incredulously but Maura just grinned.

"Okay, okay. I'm leaving." Angela said, shooting another look at the two women before pulling the door shut.

Jane flopped back on the bed as soon as the door was closed. "Babies?!" She exclaimed, covering her face with her hands.

Jane felt the mattress shift as Maura lay back down beside Jane. She ran a hand through Jane's hair soothingly. "It's okay, Jane. She took it pretty well."

Jane kept her hands in place and simply shook her head. She was embarrassed that she suddenly felt tears pricking the back of her eyes. She tried to swallow them back but a few leaked through her fingers.

"Oh Jane. It's okay." Maura said, wiping away the tears with her fingertips. She gently pulled Jane's hands away from her face and laced her fingers through Jane's. "She wasn't upset."

Jane blinked furiously, willing anymore tears to disappear. "I know." She replied, her voice unsteady. "It's just… I don't know. That wasn't exactly how I pictured telling her about us."

"It's alright. Maybe it's better this way. No grand announcement. It was no big deal." Maura assured the brunette before leaning in to kiss her gently. Jane curled herself into the blonde, wrapping her arms around Maura's waist.

"Thank you." Jane whispered. "You're always right."

"Of course I am."


	13. When it rains

**- Whew, sorry its been a while darlings. I hope you enjoy the update! :)**

Jane cursed her forgetfulness as she walked the three blocks from her car to Maura's house in the freezing rain. March had been a foul month so far with low, overcast skies on the days that weren't taken over by sleet and freezing rain. Jane had been in a hurry to leave the precinct that evening and had forgotten her umbrella in her locker. Of course, this would be the day that there was absolutely no parking anywhere close to Maura's house. Jane pulled her coat closer around her but it did little to protect her head, as icy rain slithered down her scalp and onto her neck.

She finally spotted the light on Maura's porch and she had to restrain herself from breaking into a run the last few feet. She hopped up the stairs to the porch two at a time and quickly shoved her key in the door. She pushed open the front door and was immediately enveloped by warm air. Jane stamped her feet on the doormat inside the door and bent down to peel her boots off. She could see that a small puddle was already spreading out from where she was standing in the entry way.

"Jane?" Maura called, coming down the hallway from her bedroom.

"Hey Maur."

"What in the world?" Maura asked, taking in Jane's sopping wet clothing.

"Uh, it appears to be raining." Jane replied with a weak smile. "Freezing rain to be exact."

"Oh for goodness sake." Maura said, coming closer to help Jane out of her coat. Jane's fingers had become tight and swollen feeling due to the extreme change in temperature inside the house. "Have you ever heard of an umbrella?"

"Yes, smartypants." Jane retorted as she leaned on Maura's shoulder in order to pull her damp socks off. "I just happened to have left mine at work."

Maura sighed lightly and Jane shook her head, water flying off her hair in the process. "Jane! You're getting water everywhere!" Maura exclaimed, holding a hand up to cover her face from the onslaught. "Take your clothes off here. There's no use tracking water all the way through the house."

"Why Maura Isles, I think you're just concocting up any excuse you can think of to get me naked." Jane teased.

"No. That's just an added bonus." Maura replied with a slow grin. "Off. You're getting water on my restored hardwood floors!"

Jane rolled her eyes at the blonde, but pulled her long sleeved shirt over her head. She handed it to Maura and peeled her pants off of her legs. Jane stood on the door mat in her boy shorts and black bra and Maura eyed the brunette appreciatively.

"Don't you want to strip too?" Jane asked playfully, moving toward the smaller woman. She put her arm around Maura's waist, feeling for the zipper on her dress.

"Jane you know we're supposed to be meeting your family for dinner tonight." Maura said, edging her way out of Jane's grasp. "I'm going to throw these in the dryer."

Jane groaned. "I don't want to go to dinner. I just want to stay here. We can watch a movie. It's gross outside!"

Maura shook her head bemusedly and walked into the laundry room off the kitchen. She reappeared in a few seconds and Jane crossed her arms over her body, pouting her lips.

"Unh uh, not gotta work Jane." Maura said with a grin. "We made plans to have dinner with your family. Besides this would be a great opportunity to tell your brothers about us."

Jane grimaced. "I don't know. I'm not sure its the right time."

"And when do you think the right time is?" Maura asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Um, how about the week after never." Jane said.

"Jane…" Maura said, shooting Jane a warning glance.

"Maura." Jane whined at the blonde.

"We have to tell them at some point. Now is as good a time as any." Maura responded. "I can tell them if you want."

Jane huffed. "No I'll do it. But I'm not happy about it."

Maura glanced down at her watch. "You've got to get ready. We need to leave soon." Maura pointed the brunette down the hallway.

Jane stomped into the bedroom and opened her side of the closet. She had brought over a sizable portion of her wardrobe a few weeks before since she was spending more and more of her time at Maura's.

She pushed through the hangers of clothes quickly and selected a dark blue shirt and black pants. She was slipping the pants on when pale arms encircled her waist.

"Maur… If you're in here there's no way I'm gonna be able to stay dressed." Jane warned, flipping around to face the blonde. Maura grinned and captured the brunette's mouth with her own.

"I couldn't resist." Maura said, punctuating each word with a kiss. "Seeing you in the hallway naked… it does things to me…"

"Oh really?" Jane asked, kissing Maura fiercely. "What type of things?" She opened her eyes to gaze into Maura's. Maura blinked slowly as a flush spread across her cheeks and down her chest. She peered out from under her thick eyelashes, looking bashful.

"Does it make you hot?" Jane asked impishly. "Does it turn you on?" She put her hands on Maura's hips and pushed her back slowly until the back of Maura's knees hit the bed. She pushed the blonde down gently and crawled on top of her. Maura's eyes darkened with lust as she quickly pulled Jane's shirt over her head.

"We're going to be late." Maura said as she unhooked Jane's bra.

"Hey you started this." Jane pointed out, bending down to suck on Maura's collarbone. "But I am definitely going to finish it."

—

"Jane, come on!" Maura urged as she grabbed her purse off of the kitchen counter.

"I'm trying." Jane huffed from her position doubled over, attempting to zip her boot up.

"Do it in the car." Maura said, opening the front door and popping her umbrella open. Both women ducked underneath the umbrella and sprinted for Maura's car.

Luckily Maura had chosen a restaurant for dinner that was only a few miles from her house. They arrived only ten minutes late. Angela, Tommy and Frankie were already seated in a round corner booth. Jane slid in next to Frankie and Maura edged in after her.

"Hi guys." Jane said, opening her napkin and placing it in her lap. "Sorry we're late, I got caught at the office this evening, finishing something up." She lied easily. She knew better than to look at Maura because she was sure Maura's guilt was all over her face. "What sounds good tonight?" She asked, opening a menu.

Jane shoved a menu into Maura's hands as well, anything to put up a barrier between the blonde and her family.

"Well I was thinking lasagna." Angela responded, flipping through the menu. "But I don't know, I always get that here."

Jane smiled at her mother and gently squeezed Maura's knee under the table.

Dinner progressed well as each RIzzoli talked about their work, or in Tommy's case his search for work. Maura shared some dull information about a new lab technique she had learned about and everyone finished their dinner.

After the waiter had brought some dessert out, Jane cleared her throat. She figured that it was now or never. She thought that if she dropped the bomb right before everyone was done, it would be easy enough to escape if things didn't go over well.

"Uh, Maura and I have something to tell you." Jane began, her fingers nervously tearing at the napkin in her lap. Maura's hand found hers under the table and she squeezed it reassuringly. Tommy and Frankie looked up from their plates expectantly but Jane noticed her mother was just smiling happily. Jane suckedd in a breath of air "Uh, well… Maura and I are together." Jane said in a rush, expelling the breath she'd taken in. She squeezed Maura's hand harder, feeling as if she was holding on for dear life as she found the courage to look up at her brothers' faces.

Tommy had leaned back in his seat and was staring at Jane, a small smile playing on his lips. Meanwhile Frankie looked back and forth between Jane and Maura, his forehead wrinkled as he tried to sort out what Jane was saying.

"Well?" Jane asked, staring pointedly at the two men.

"I knew it!" Tommy said, breaking the silence.

"What?" Jane and Angela asked at the same time.

Tommy smiled a bemused smile. "Someone stole a few copies of my Playboy magazines in middle school…"

Jane flushed a deep red and Maura turned to Jane with a delighted smile.

"How did you know it was me and not Frankie?" Jane exclaimed.

"Oh Frankie was too much of a wuss to steal from me." Tommy replied.

"You had Playboy magazines?" Angela asked, smacking her son on the back of the head.

"Ma!" Tommy said, rubbing his head.

"Just be glad I can't reach you, Jane." Angela said, narrowing her eyes at her daughter across the table. Jane lowered her gaze sheepishly.

"Frankie?" Jane asked nervously. "You haven't said anything."

"I'm just, uh, surprised." The younger Rizzoli said, still looking slightly confused. "I mean all of those boyfriends in high school."

"Yeah, well… Sometimes it just takes finding the right person." Jane said, glancing happily at Maura.

"Oh I think its wonderful." Angela said, practically clapping her hands. "Maura you make my Janie so happy. I can see it."

"Oh thank you Angela. She makes me very happy too." Maura said gazing adoringly at Jane.

—

After paying the check Jane and Maura had trudged through the drizzling rain back to the car. Maura climbed in the driver's seat and looked over at Jane's grumpy expression.

"Oh Jane, cheer up. It went fine." Maura assured her.

"Hmph." Jane huffed. "If you say so."

Maura started the car but turned to the brunette before pulling out of the parking space. "I can't believe you stole your brother's Playboy magazines!" Maura said, breaking into a fit of laughter.

"I swear if you tell anyone about that…." Jane threatened. "I'll…" She broke off, unable to come up with a good threat.

"You'll what?" Maura asked with a laugh, her eyes dancing.

"I'll never do that thing I did earlier tonight." Jane said with a grin. "You know the one with my tongue on your…"

"Jane!" Maura interrupted, punching the brunette on the arm. She looked around, as if she was afraid that someone might have their ear pressed up against the car window.

Jane laughed and leaned over to kiss the blonde warmly. "I'm just teasing you. Although seriously, keep that little bit of information to yourself."


	14. The unexpected

**-Whew! Its been a while. Sorry about that! But here's an extra long update to make up for it. Thanks again for all the reviews! They make my heart sing. **

A few days later Jane had finally caught a break in the case of the murdered teenager. They had uncovered a drug smuggling ring that operated by using college students as drug mules. The students would go on trips abroad and return carrying drugs for the group. The students would be paid for their service and the ring would have the drugs they wanted to sell, without having to leave the country to get them. The teenaged boy had been interested in investigative journalism and had accidentally discovered what the crime ring was doing. When the teen attempted to go undercover with a couple of college friends pretending to be interested in making some money, it was discovered that the boy had a video camera with him.

The second in command of the ring had been there and ordered the boy killed for the fear that he would go to the police with what he found out.

"Poor kid." Jane said, staring up at the picture of Benjamin. "He thought he had found a great story and ended up getting himself killed over it."

"Well regardless of what he intended, his death will make for some pretty sensational journalism." Korsak agreed, sadly.

"Now we've just got to figure out where this Campbell guy is so we can arrest him. We've got one of the underlings saying that he's the one that shot Benjamin. We just need to find him." Jane said, flipping through the stack of papers on her desk.

"Last known address is vacant, so he's not there." Frost supplied, looking up from his computer. "You know I think that guy we interviewed, the one that gave him up might have said something about a bar that the guys hang out at." He rifled through a file on his desk and pulled out a packet of papers. "Yeah, here it is. The Rusty Nail."

"The Rusty Nail?" Jane asked incredulously. "That's got to be fake."

Frost punched a few keys on his computer. "Nope, its real. Although its also really rundown. C'mon I've got an address. Lets check it out."

Jane checked her watch and saw that it was 5:30. "Well hopefully Campbell starts drinking early." She grabbed her jacket and headed for the doors.

After sitting in rush hour traffic for almost an hour Jane finally pulled up in front of what appeared to be an abandoned building. "Are you sure this is the right address?"

Frost checked his phone. "Yeah, this is what it said. Maybe its one of those places you have to know about to get in, no advertising."

"Yeah I guess." Jane muttered. "I'm sure they'll take really kindly to us showing up then."

"You want me to call for backup?" Frost asked.

"Nah, we'll just see whats going on, ask a few questions. There's no way we'll actually find Campbell here. Hopefully we can just get a better idea of where he might hang out." Jane replied, checking her gun on her hip before turning the car off.

Jane got out and made her way across the sludgy, half frozen ground. There were a few trucks parked directly in front of the bar but there was hardly any sign that the building in fact contained a bar. Half of the windows on the building were shuttered and there was only one outside light, directly above the doorway.

Jane pushed open the glass door and a bell attached to it, jangled slightly. The inside of the bar was almost as dark and rundown as the outside. There was a long bar with stools, a few tables and a couple of old TVs but not much else. There were five guys seated together at the bar and the bartender had his back to the detectives. There were another couple of men seated around one of the tables in the center of the room, playing cards.

Jane and Frost walked up to the bar as the bartender turned around.

"What are you two doing here?" The man asked.

"Well, I'm Detective Rizzoli and this is Detective Frost, we've got a couple of questions for you." Jane said, pulling her jacket aside to flash her badge.

The bartender grunted his displeasure and refilled one of the men's mugs. "I ain't got nothing to tell you."

"We're looking for information on a Roy Campbell." Frost replied, showing the man a photo of their killer.

"Never heard of a Roy Campbell." The bartender said, louder than necessary. Jane took the opportunity while Frost was speaking to look around the room at the other men. The men at the bar were still engrossed in their conversation and three of the men at the table were concentrating on their card game but Jane noticed one of the men from the table had gotten up and was headed through a side door.

Jane followed him, wondering if there was another room to the bar. As she pushed open the door she heard raised voices and the sound of things being knocked over. Her hand immediately went to her gun as she eased the door open slowly. The room was darker than the main room had been and Jane had just barely made out the shape of tables and chairs when she heard a voice shout "Cop!".

She immediately drew her gun and shouted, "Boston Police. Don't move!" There were probably a dozen men in the room, some of them attempting to make it out the back exit. None of them listened to Jane's order and continued running around, pushing each other out of the way. Jane spotted a man that she was almost certain was Roy Campbell and she cursed the fact that she hadn't told Frost where she was going. She could only hope he had heard the commotion and was behind her. The man was behind a counter at the other end of the room and moving towards a door. Jane moved toward him, dodging the other men who were moving around senselessly in her path.

"Campbell!" She yelled and he turned around at the sound of his name. He looked startled that he was the one being singled out and he glanced around frantically before grabbing a giant box full of mugs off the counter and hurling them in her direction. She dodged the box but he had pulled a gun from behind the counter now and was aiming it at the detective, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

Jane knew she could shoot him, he was only ten feet away and she was a good shot. She exhaled quickly and prepared to squeeze the trigger but in the split second before could, she suddenly felt the world shift. One of the larger men had barreled into her side, sending her sprawling across the floor. She managed to keep a hold of her gun and she quickly set up to take aim at Campbell again but just when she locked her sight on him, she heard the pop of another gun. Her head swung in the direction of the noise and she saw the bartender standing in the doorway. She suddenly became aware of a stabbing pain in her thigh. "Shit." She muttered wondering if that shot had been aimed at her. In the next second there were more shots, so Jane didn't have time to waste wondering what was going on.

She trained her gun on Campbell again and was about to pull the trigger when she noticed that red was already seeping across his chest. His face was frozen in a sort of half grin as he glanced down at his shirt and then sank to the ground. Jane caught sight of Frost as she made her way over to Campbell. The room seemed to have cleared quickly around her as the gunshots went off. Jane heard Frost calling for backup as she checked Campbell for a pulse. He didn't have one, which Jane wasn't surprised by.

She turned to find Frost putting handcuffs on the bartender. "What the hell just happened?" Jane asked as she made her way over to the pair. Frost looked at the detective and trained his gaze on her leg.

"Jane, did you get shot?"

Jane looked down to find a dark red stain spreading on the leg of her gray pants. "Oh shit." Jane said as the size of the spot seemed to grow while Jane watched. She put her hand down to feel the damage but as she did she felt the world tilt around her once again before everything went black.

—

Jane heard the beeping of her alarm clock but she couldn't seem to find it to turn it off. She groped along her bedside table for a few seconds before she felt a hand on hers.

"Jane?"

Jane struggled to open her eyes, and when she did she found Maura sitting next to her bed. The beeping wasn't her alarm, but one of the machines beside her hospital bed.

"Jane?" Maura asked again. "It's okay. You're in the hospital. You were shot."

Jane blinked slowly a few times, her eyes were gritty as if she'd been asleep for a long time.

"Maura." Jane managed, her throat dry and scratchy. Maura smiled and pulled Jane's fingers to her lips, but Jane could see tears in the blonde's eyes. "I'm okay Maur. Aren't I?"

"You were shot in the thigh. The bullet narrowly missed the femoral artery, and you lost a lot of blood." Maura said, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "They took you into emergency surgery and got the bullet out but they had to give you a lot of blood." Maura explained, her voice breaking.

Jane closed her eyes for a moment as if if were possible to feel how much blood her body had lost. She opened them and offered Maura a small smile. "What no precise scientific units on how much blood I lost?" She rasped out.

"Jane!" Maura said, swatting Jane's hand lightly, but she smiled weakly. "You scared me." She said, growing serious again. "I thought… what if I had lost you?" At this Maura started crying again in earnest, covering her face with her hands.

"Maur, its okay." Jane said attempting to pull the other woman closer to her. Her progress was hampered by the IV in one of her arms and the blood pressure cuff around the other. "Come here." She said, gesturing for Maura to move closer to the bed. Maura scooted her chair closer and leaned into Jane's arms. Jane hugged the blonde closer to her, smoothing the golden curls with one hand.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and for some reason this only made Maura cry harder. "Maura?" Jane pulled back in order to look into Maura's face.

"I know you are. You're always sorry when it happens. But the fact of the matter is it keeps happening. You're always in danger." Maura said through her tears. "It's just, I sew you lying there in the ER, lifeless. You were so pale. I thought…" She shook her head, unable to finish the sentence.

Jane pulled the blonde into another embrace. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly. "I really am. It was stupid. We shouldn't have gone in without backup."

Jane held Maura close to her until the other woman quieted. Maura sat back in the chair, smoothing her hair distractedly. "I can't even say 'don't do it again' Jane. Because I know you will." Maura added, wiping her nose with a kleenex.

Jane didn't have an answer for that because she knew it was true as well. Her job was to get the bad guys, whatever that meant.

"Jane…" Maura started, a serious look on her face. Jane's heart sank, she knew what Maura would say.

"It's okay, Maura. I understand that this is too hard. And its not fair to you. I know we can't keep doing this." Jane said, taking a deep breath and pushing it out.

Maura's face rippled in confusion at Jane's words. "Can't keep doing what?" Maura asked, her brow creased in worry.

"Date, see each other." Jane supplied, looking down at her blanket. She didn't want to have to look at Maura's face. Jane picked at a loose thread on her blanket, until she felt a hand on her chin.

"Jane…" Maura said, gently pulling Jane's gaze up to meet hers. "I was going to ask if you want to move in with me."

Jane was so shocked her mouth practically fell open. Whatever she had been expecting Maura to say that had not been it. "But you just said you couldn't do this. That you couldn't watch me get hurt." Jane sputtered.

"Of course I don't like it!" Maura responded with a slight smile. "But I will do it because I love you. And I just… I want us to live together. I want to be able to keep a good eye on you, mostly." She finished with a grin.

Jane stared intently into Maura's face, the woman who had just invited her to move in with her, the one who had said 'I love you'. She had never imagined that morning when she woke up that she would get shot but even more than that she had never believed that the night could end so perfectly.

"Okay." Jane replied, a slow grin stretching across her face. She leaned over to kiss the blonde sweetly on the lips. "You said 'I love you'." Jane commented with a grin as she pulled away from the other woman. Maura flushed slightly, "It's true."

"I love you too." Jane replied before capturing Maura's mouth again.

**-The ending of this chapter was almost too sweet even for me.. and I wrote it! Yay? Nay? **


	15. How to save a life

**- This chapter does contain spoilers for Season 2 Episode 10. Just an FYI (although if you haven't watched that yet… bad rizzles fan! :D)**

Jane was staring out the window of her hospital room, looking at downtown Boston spread out below her. She had changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that Maura had brought her. After three days in the hospital her doctor had cleared her to be discharged.

"Are you ready to go ma'am?"

Jane turned away from the window and found a teenage volunteer standing in the doorway with a wheelchair.

"Ma'am?" Jane muttered under her breath. "Uh sure. You know I'm perfectly fine to walk."

"It's hospital policy. I'm sorry." The blonde girl replied, offering a smile.

"Oh all right." Jane replied and limped over to the chair, picking up her bag along the way.

The volunteer wheeled Jane out of her room and to the elevators. As they waited for the elevator to come the girl stood beside Jane.

"Do you have someone waiting to pick you up?" She asked.

"Yeah. My uh…" Jane paused. "My girlfriend went to get the car."

The volunteer nodded in response. If the girlfriend part of that sentence had surprised her she didn't show it.

The elevator came and the volunteer pushed the wheelchair in. "I've got a girlfriend too." The volunteer replied after the doors had shut.

Jane grinned broadly, glancing up at the teen. She returned the smile, showing pink braces on her teeth.

Neither said anything as the elevator doors opened to the main lobby. The volunteer wheeled Jane out to the main circle and Jane saw Maura's car. "It's that one, the Prius." She pointed it out to the girl. Maura got out of the car and came around to open the passenger door for Jane. She gathered up her bag and climbed slowly into the front seat.

"Thank you so much… Allison." Jane said, catching sight of the volunteer's name tag. Allison smiled back and waved as Jane shut the door to the car.

"Ready to go?" Maura asked as she shut the door.

"You have no idea." Jane replied. "I am so tired of sleeping in a hospital bed and eating hospital food and having someone wake me up every four hours to make sure I'm still alive."

Maura grinned at Jane and rolled her eyes before putting the car in motion. "Glad to see you're feeling back to your normal self."

"We're going to your house right?" Jane asked, taking Maura's hand in her own.

"If thats what you want." Maura said.

"I want to be with you." Jane replied. "Besides how else are you going to cater to my every whim?" She asked as she brought Maura's fingers to her mouth, kissing them gently.

"Oh is that what you think is going to happen?" Maura asked, arching an eyebrow at Jane.

"I did get _shot_, Maura!" Jane huffed indignantly. "In the leg no less!"

Maura smiled and shook her head. "Who would have guessed you would be such a needy patient."

Jane's only reply was to pout over dramatically before squeezing Maura's hand. Jane turned to watch Boston slide by out the window. Although it was the beginning of spring it looked like it might be a very wet and gloomy April.

—

Jane settled easily onto Maura's couch and spent the afternoon watching TV. Maura had gone back to the office in order to finish up a case she was working on. Jane was on leave until her doctor gave her the okay to go back to desk duty, probably in about 2 weeks.

Jane wasn't aware that she had fallen asleep until she woke up, her heart pounding and drenched in sweat. The room was dark and it took her a minute to figure out why she was so startled. She listened to the house around her wondering if she'd been woken up by a sound. As she lay there with her eyes closed, pieces of her dream came back to her. She was back in the room with Hoyt and he had his hands on Maura.

Jane hadn't taken much time after the attack and Hoyt's death to worry about what had happened there. Hoyt was dead and Jane was relieved that he couldn't hurt her any longer. Jane had had nightmares before that night about Hoyt, fairly often. But as soon as he was dead the nightmares had completely stopped. It was like once the man was gone, Jane had felt no fear. She couldn't decide if it was the fact that she'd been shot that had brought the memories back or the fact that she never realized that Maura could be in danger just because she was close to Jane.

Hoyt had always killed couples, murdering one in front of the other. Jane had never realized that Hoyt had decided, for whatever reason, that she and Maura were together long before they were. Seeing him with the scalpel on Maura's neck had been all of the incentive that Jane needed to find the superhuman strength to break free of the guard and get to Hoyt. Her own life being in danger was nothing new to Jane, but seeing him that close to hurting Maura was more than Jane could handle.

Jane felt tears slide down her cheeks at the delayed realization that she was having. Maura was always worried about Jane being hurt but Jane couldn't believe she'd never realized that just because they were in a relationship, Maura could be in some sort of danger, simply because of Jane.

Jane wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands and got up from the couch shakily. She limped over to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. As she stood in the kitchen she noticed a picture frame Maura must have placed on the windowsill. It was a picture of Jane and Maura from a year or so ago at Jane's birthday party. Both women were smiling with their arms around each other. Jane wondered when Maura had put that picture up and moved over to pick the frame up, running her finger over the glass.

"Jane?"

Jane turned to see Maura standing in the entryway, she hadn't even heard the blonde open the door.

"Hey." Jane said, her voice cracking from being unused all afternoon.

Maura walked into the kitchen and sat a brown paper bag down on the counter. "I picked up some Indian food on the way home. I didn't feel like cooking."

Jane set the picture frame back down but stayed frozen to the spot by the counter.

"Jane?" Maura asked again, her forehead wrinkling in concern as she turned to face Jane. She reached for Jane's hand and Jane was shaken out of her reverie. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Maura asked, her hand still on Jane's forearm.

"Yeah, I just woke up not long before you got here. I didn't mean to fall asleep." Jane said shaking her head, trying to clear it. "Are you checking my pulse?" Jane asked, looking down at Maura's hand on her arm.

Maura dropped Jane's arm. "Uh… Maybe." She said, her cheeks flushing. Jane grinned and moved, pulling the blonde into an embrace.

"That's quite endearing… Even if it is a bit creepy." Jane murmured into Maura's hair.

Maura pulled back and grinned sheepishly at Jane before placing a soft kiss on the brunette's lips. "Should we eat?"

Jane nodded her agreement and pulled out plates for both her and Maura before making her way slowly to the table. Maura brought the takeout containers over and then returned to the kitchen for wine.

"Is your leg bothering you?" Maura asked.

"It's not too bad. It's worse when I move around on it." Jane replied, rubbing around the area where the bullet had been. She had peeked at the scar in the shower the day before. It was only a few centimeters long but there was still some redness and swelling around it.

"You know you could take the painkillers the doctor prescribed." Maura said gently, coming back to the table with two full wine glasses.

"Eh, I don't like that they make me feel all fuzzy." Jane replied and picked up the wine glass. "Besides wine does basically the same thing."

Maura smiled and shook her head slightly. "You know there's no shame in admitting you're in pain."

"I know." Jane said, reaching for a box of jasmine rice. Both women ate in silence for a while.

"I had a dream about Hoyt this afternoon." Jane said quietly as she stared down at her chicken.

Maura looked up from her plate, her faced etched in concern. "You did?"

"First one since that day at the prison." Jane said, rubbing her palms unconsciously. "I don't even know why."

Maura remained quiet, gazing at Jane. She seemed to understand that Jane would tell her when she was ready.

"We were back in that room with him and the guard. He had his hands on you, the scalpel on your neck and I couldn't move. I was frozen. All I could do was lay there and watch him cut you." Jane said, her voice breaking. She blinked quickly, trying to push back the tears that threatened to fall.

Maura reached out and covered Jane's hand with hers, squeezing Jane's fingers. "But you reacted in the moment. You got free and you stabbed him." Maura reassured her. "I know you could do the same thing again if you had to. If I was in danger." Maura said gravely, her eyes intense. "I know you would Jane."

"I don't know." Jane replied.

"I know you could. Besides its a normal response to stress, this feeling of helplessness." Maura assured her, bringing Jane's fingers to her mouth and ghosting her lips over them. "Which is an even better reason for you to take some time off from work. You never stopped after the incident with Hoyt. Maybe you just need some time off to rest and recuperate."

"Weren't you scared?" Jane asked suddenly, staring into Maura's green eyes.

Maura paused a moment before answering. "Yes. Of course. I was terrified. Not just that he would hurt me but that he would make you watch and then hurt you too." Maura's eyes glistened slightly with unshed tears, but she seemed to set her mouth firmly. "But we got through it. You did what you had to and we got out of the situation."

"Aren't you afraid that being close to me will be dangerous?" Jane whispered, barely able to get the words out. She was afraid that Maura would say that she was and realize how unsafe it was to be with Jane.

"No." Maura said simply. "It would be far more dangerous to be away from you. You are the one who saved my life, Jane."

"Yeah but it was my fault you were there at all!" Jane exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the table, rattling the silverware.

"There is not going to be another man like Hoyt, Jane." Maura said calmly. "No one else will be that intent on hurting you or someone close to you."

"You don't know that!" Jane retorted.

"You're right I don't." Maura answered. "But I don't care. Jane don't you see that being close to you means more to me than some false sense of security? No one is truly safe. Horrible things happen everyday. I'd rather be with you if they do end up happening."

Jane simply shook her head as Maura got up and came to kneel next to the brunette. She pulled both of Jane's hands into hers. "Jane I'm here now. You can't get rid of me, even if you wanted to." She said and offered up a weak smile.

Jane stared down at the stunning woman, kneeling next to her. She seemed well aware of what she was doing by being in a relationship with Jane.

"I don't want to get rid of you." Jane replied and pulled Maura up so that she was eye level with Jane. "Thank you." Jane said simply before kissing Maura lovingly. Maura kissed her back, weaving her hands in Jane's hair. She pulled back and rested her forehead against Jane's.

"Are you done eating?" Maura asked and Jane nodded in response. "Let's go to bed." She pulled Jane up by both hands and looped her arm around Jane's shoulders.

Leaning on Maura, the women made their way slowly to Maura's bedroom. Once there Jane sat on the bed and slowly peeled her sweatpants off, leaving just her t-shirt and boy shorts on. She lay back on the bed and watched as Maura unzipped her dress, pulled it off, and dropped it in the clothes hamper. She unclasped her bra and grabbed an old Boston PD shirt of Jane's, slipping it over her head. She came over to the bed and crawled up beside Jane.

"I like that your clothes smell like you." Maura murmured, wrapping her arms around Jane's waist.

"Mmmm." Jane answered in agreement, snuggling beside the blonde and pulling the comforter up around them. "Thank you." She whispered softly.

"For what?" Maura asked, trailing her fingers over Jane's arm.

"For listening, for saying what you said. And for being here."

**- Again, I'm sorry for the long time in between updates. I've started school and it's kicking my butt. Thanks again for all the follows and reviews! **


	16. Unexpected

A week after Jane came home from the hospital, she was sure she was going to lose her mind. She had never been so bored in her life. She had supervised the movers Maura hired to pack up her apartment and then oversaw them as they moved her things into Maura's. She had slowly unpacked all of her boxes, but even that had only taken a few days.

Growing desperate Jane had actually set to work alphabetizing Maura's bookshelves in her office. Jane added her own books and was in the M's when Maura came home on Friday evening.

"Jane?" Maura called, dropping her keys on the entry hall table.

"In the office." Jane called back.

Maura entered and found Jane sitting cross legged on the ground next to the bookshelves, skimming through a book of poetry.

"Catching up on your Keats?" Maura asked, sinking into the armchair in front of her desk.

"Alphabetizing, actually." Jane said, offering Maura a smile.

"Really Jane?" Maura asked, incredulous.

"Don't sound so surprised." Jane scoffed. "I can organize stuff when I want to."

Maura just laughed and shook her head. "I'm gonna get out some leftover pizza for dinner."

"Okay." Jane replied. "I'm just gonna finish the M's and I'll be out."

Maura left the office to warm up some pizza and pour both women some wine. Jane finished up the section she was working on and slowly pulled herself off the floor. She had been doing the exercises the physical therapist from the hospital gave her and her leg was feeling quite a bit better. It still hurt when she did too much, but sometimes Jane could forget that it had happened only a week and half ago.

She walked in to meet Maura in the kitchen. Maura handed her a glass of white wine and sipped on her own. Jane grabbed a plate of pizza and headed over to the kitchen table.

"There's an envelope on the table for you." Maura said as she sat down.

"Huh?" Jane asked. "What is it? I already got the mail."

"It's not mail."

Jane stared at Maura as if she could see into the blonde's mind.

"Just open it." Maura said, rolling her eyes at Jane.

Jane reached for the envelope. It was skinny and longer than a normal letter sized envelope.

She opened one end and pulled out two tickets.

"Maura?" Jane asked as her eyes scanned the tickets. "These look like airline tickets."

Maura grinned back at the brunette. "Because thats what they are Jane."

Jane caught sight of the destination on one of the tickets. "Tahiti?!" She exclaimed. "Maur, these tickets are for tomorrow!"

Maura grinned widely. "Yes they are. We're going out of town tomorrow."

Jane raised her eyebrows incredulously.

"What? You're already off work and I had some vacation time saved up so I just decided, what the hell!" Maura explained.

Jane stared at her girlfriend, her mouth partially open. She wasn't sure what surprised her more, that Maura had spontaneously decided to book a trip to Tahiti or that she had just said 'what the hell'.

"Are you serious about this?" Jane asked. "We're going to Tahiti?"

Maura nodded happily. "Of course Jane. Do you think I would kid you about this?"

Jane looked back down at the tickets. "We're leaving at 5 am tomorrow?" She asked with a groan.

Maura nodded. "More time on the beach." She replied.

—

Later that evening after dinner Jane was in their bedroom packing. She glanced over at Maura's open suitcase on the bed.

"Sheesh Maur, how many bathing suits are you bringing?" Jane asked as she picked up a skimpy blue top from the top of the pile.

"Just a few. I like to have lots of options." Maura replied, grabbing the bikini top out of Jane's hands.

"Maura Isles… Is this a thong?" Jane asked, letting one of Maura's bikini bottoms hang off her outstretched finger.

Maura looked up from the drawer she was rifling through. "No. It's technically a tanga. It's Brazilian."

Jane stared incredulously at the blonde. "You are _not _wearing this out in public."

"Jane!" Maura protested, coming over to take the bikini bottom from her, she dropped it back in her suitcase. Jane gave Maura her best 'I'm serious' stare. Maura came close to Jane, wrapping her arms around the taller woman. "I brought it so I can wear it for you." Maura whispered into Jane's ear. Jane blushed red at the thought of Maura modeling that swimsuit specifically for Jane.

"Well in that case…" Jane rasped. She reached behind the blonde and picked up the swimsuit bottom again. She brought it around and dangled it in front of Maura's face. "Do you want to try it on now?"

Maura grinned cheekily at Jane and grabbed the bottom out of her hand. "Only if you try on one too."

**- Sorry this is a short one! But I wanted to get something up. Hopefully I'll have more time to write this weekend and I can get another chapter up. :) thanks again for all the reviews, favorites and follows! **


	17. By the sea

**- Sorry it's been a bit. But here's an extra long update because of the wait… SMUT ahead! **

"Maura… I feel ridiculous." Jane whispered into what she hoped was Maura's ear. It was a little hard to tell where any part of Maura's body since she had a blindfold on. After going through customs at the airport in Tahiti Maura had pulled out a scarf and insisted on tying it over Jane's eyes so that she couldn't see where they were going.

"It's fine Jane. No one cares. We're just two tourists on vacation." Maura replied, running her hand over Jane's thigh. "Besides, we're almost there."

"And where is 'there' exactly?" Jane asked, fighting the urge to slip the blindfold up just a little bit so she could get a peek at where they were at. She left the blindfold on though, she wanted to play along with Maura's plan.

Maura slipped her hand onto Jane's inner thigh and brushed her fingernails over the sensitive skin there by way of reply. Jane inhaled sharply at the contact on her bare legs. She had let Maura convince her to change into shorts at the airport but she was glad that she had when she felt how hot and humid the air was outside.

Just then the cab came to a stop and Jane heard the driver get out and open the trunk. Maura took Jane's hand in hers and pulled her out the door of the cab.

"Are you going to take this off?" Jane inquired gesturing towards the scarf."

"Not yet. Patience, Jane."

Jane huffed and pretended to be annoyed but she hid a grin, even though she was pretending to complain she actually enjoyed being led around by Maura.

Jane could hear different voices around her, it sounded like the bellhop taking their bags.

"Right this way, ladies." She heard a voice say and Maura pulled her along. If the bellhop found the situation odd he didn't say anything. Maybe he was used to it, maybe couples came to this hotel all the time, one of them blindfolded. This thought made Jane smile and she snorted a bit at herself.

"See! You really are enjoying yourself." Maura exclaimed triumphantly.

"Ah, you caught me." Jane grinned.

"We're going up a few steps." Maura instructed Jane, never letting go of the brunette's hand. Jane heard the sound of waves breaking on the sand.

"Aren't we going inside the hotel?" Jane asked.

"Yeah in a minute." Maura replied somewhat mysteriously. She led Jane for a few more feet and then stopped. Jane stopped abruptly beside her.

"Maur?" She felt Maura move behind her and untie the scarf. As the scarf fell away, Jane squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. Once she could see again, she took in her surroundings. They were standing on a wooden walkway over the water, in front of what Jane could only describe as a house on stilts _over_ the ocean.

She felt her mouth fall open in surprise as she took in the thatched roof of the bungalow they were standing in front of. She glanced at Maura who was gazing at her expectantly.

"Holy shit, Maura!" Jane exclaimed finally. Maura didn't even bother scolding Jane for her language she just broke into a grin and threaded her arm through Jane's.

"So I guess you like it?" Maura asked innocently.

"Uh yeah. I guess so." Jane responded sarcastically. "I just figured we'd stay at a normal hotel, you know in a hotel room. Not in a freaking house over the water!"

Maura simply continued to grin. "Do you want to go inside?" She asked as she led the way through the doorway. Their bags had been left by the bellhop just inside the door and Jane took in the spacious area. The bungalow was mostly one big open room with the exception of the bathroom. There was a small kitchenette and dining table in the front part of the room with a plush couch on the other side and then a few steps up to a raised platform where the king sized canopy bed was. There were huge floor to ceiling windows all along one wall of the bungalow looking out at the dazzling blue waters of the south Pacific Ocean.

Jane walked over to one of the windows that was open, allowing the faint breeze to flow through the room.

"This place is amazing!" She said, turning to look at Maura. Maura beamed back at the brunette.

"I hoped you would like it." She responded quietly. Jane walked towards the other woman and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close.

"I love it." She replied, placing a kiss on the tip of the blonde's nose.

—

After settling in, Jane was sitting on the front porch of their bungalow, gazing out over the water.

"Pina Colada?" Maura asked, coming out the door carrying two glasses.

"Yes please." Jane responded and took one of the glasses offered to her before pulling Maura down into her lap. Maura giggled before settling down on top of the brunette and wrapping her arm around her neck. She batted her eyelashes coyly and peered up at Jane.

"Are you enjoying the view?" Maura asked, innocently.

Jane looked from Maura's face to her chest, covered only in a bikini top. She had a sarong wrapped around her waist, covering her bathing suit bottom.

"Oh yes. The water is very pretty." Jane replied, licking her lips as she gazed back up at Maura's face.

Maura shoved Jane's shoulder playfully. "Not what I meant!"

Jane smirked back at the blonde. "I know. It's just too fun to mess with you."

Maura pretended to be insulted and pouted her lips, leaning towards Jane.

"God woman, what have I told you about doing that?" Jane groaned before capturing Maura's lips with her own. Jane kissed Maura slowly at first, but quickly deepened the kiss, fighting for dominance with her tongue.

Maura pulled back and stood up off of Jane's lap.

"I'm gonna go for a swim." Maura said, grinning widely as she untied her sarong and dropped it on the ground. She moved away from Jane, sashaying her hips as she went. She walked to the edge of the porch and jumped feet first into the water.

Jane just grinned and rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. I can take a hint." She called after Maura as she pulled off her tank top and shorts. She tugged her bottoms down from where they had ridden up and walked to the edge of the porch. She sat down and dipped her toes in the water watching as Maura swam back towards her. She pushed her blonde locks out of her face and flipped to her back, floating near Jane.

"Coming in?" She asked, her eyes twinkling up at the brunette. She splashed playfully in Jane's direction.

"Oh I suppose." Jane replied, standing up before executing a perfect swan dive into the water. She came up for air and turned to watch Maura grab a float off of the porch. She pulled herself up on it, laying on her back so she could get maximum sun exposure on her front. Jane swam over, resting her forearms on the float next to Maura's head.

"Maur…" Jane whined. "You're not just going to lay there are you? I thought you wanted to swim?" Maura cracked an eye open and looked at Jane.

"I'm on vacation, I can do whatever I want."

"Oh can you?" Jane asked, before quickly grabbing hold of the float and flipping it over, dunking Maura underwater. She came up sputtering but grinning.

"Oh so thats how you want to play?" Maura asked as she wrapped her arms around Jane's neck. Jane struggled to tread water enough to keep her body and Maura's afloat. As Jane concentrated on keeping her head above water she didn't notice that Maura snuck her fingers under the halter of Jane's swimsuit top, deftly untying it. She unclasped the back and pulled it off quickly.

"Maura!" Jane exclaimed once she realized what Maura was doing, wrapping her arms over her chest. She glanced around quickly to make sure no one else was close, but they had a good piece of the ocean to themselves.

Maura grabbed Jane's swimsuit top and grinned cheekily, swimming away from Jane.

"Maura Dorothea!" Jane called, trying to keep her voice stern. Ultimately she failed as she glimpsed Maura's dimples and ended up grinning back.

"Yes Jane?" She called, swimming backwards towards the dock, Jane's top still in her hand.

"Do not get out of the water with that!"

"Hm?" Maura called, pretending to be too far away to hear Jane clearly. She climbed up the ladder and perched herself on the edge of the porch.

Jane swam quickly towards the blonde. "Maura, c'mon." Jane whined at her. Maura shook her head amusedly.

"Oh, Jane there's no one around. Besides we're in the French Polynesian islands. It's a very European thing to do."

"You take yours off then!" Jane retorted. Maura shrugged and reached behind her to untie her top. She pulled it over her head, laying it on the chair beside her.

Jane's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "Maura! I was kidding."

Maura shrugged, unconcerned as she lay back, her feet still dangling over the edge.

Jane huffed slightly and then quickly climbed up the ladder. She grabbed her tank top off the chair and pulled it over her head in one fast movement, her face flushing slightly.

"I'm not quite as much of an exhibitionist as you obviously are." Jane said, sitting down beside Maura, not even trying to hide her open staring at the blonde's chest.

"I'm just comfortable with my body." Maura murmured quietly, her eyes closed as she basked in the sunlight.

"And thank goodness for that… such a nice body it is." Jane replied, hovering over the blonde, placing a leg on either side of her body.

Maura opened her eyes when she felt Jane above her and she glanced up at Jane her eyes darkening with lust. Jane ran her hands over Maura's arms, pushing them above the blonde's head. She pinned them there before leaning down to suck on the blonde's neck. Maura moaned and squirmed underneath her.

"Speaking of exhibitionism." Maura said, slightly out of breath.

"Oh I'm sorry, do you want me to stop?" Jane asked cockily, grinning at Maura.

"No!" Maura replied quickly, reaching up to capture Jane's mouth with hers. She kissed her deeply before Jane pulled away to look at the other woman. "I was simply making an observation."

"C'mon. Lets go inside." Jane suggested, offering her hand to Maura as she stood up. "The things I'm going to do to you are going to be far too loud for out here." She smirked and Maura blushed slightly before pulling herself up beside Jane and following the brunette into the bungalow.

Maura grasped onto Jane's waist, her hands playing under Jane's tank top as they walked. Maura pulled herself close to Jane and whispered into her ear, "I can see right through that tank top." She moved her hands up to Jane's breasts, ghosting fingertips over them. Jane drew in a sharp breath and placed her hands over Maura's, keeping them where they were.

"Mmm?" Jane murmured.

"Yeah." Maura replied, gently pushing the brunette up the steps to the bed. She flipped Jane around to face her, quickly pulling the shirt over her head before pushing the brunette down on the bed. She quickly rid herself of her swimsuit bottoms and crawled up to straddle the other woman. Jane gazed up at Maura, her eyes dark. She ran a hand over the blonde's shoulder and down her arm, bringing up goosebumps everywhere her fingers touched.

She reached down, running her fingers over Maura's stomach before reaching in between her legs. She stroked Maura lightly and Maura gasped and arched up.

"Uh uh." Maura moaned, pushing Jane's hand away. She crawled further up Jane's body, pushing both of her hands above her head. "Let me focus on you."

She reached down with one hand, pulling Jane's swimsuit bottoms off and tossing them behind her. She turned her attention back to Jane, gazing at her face before slowly leaning down to kiss the brunette's neck. She moved down, kissing and sucking along the tan skin, tasting the salt from the ocean. Jane moaned and arched her body towards the blonde, trying to get more contact but Maura remained above her, their bodies not touching. She leaned down and lightly flicked her tongue over one nipple, causing it to harden. She circled around it with her tongue before biting down sharply. Jane groaned loudly and Maura soothed the bite quickly with her tongue before moving onto the other breast.

Maura stayed there, playing with Jane, pulling her fingernails over Jane's chest. She took a nipple between her fingers, rolling it before pinching it slightly.

Jane's breathing was ragged, "Maura." She groaned. Maura ran her hands down Jane's sides, settling them on the brunette's hips. She dug her nails in sharply and watched as Jane's eyes squeezed closed. Jane arched her back, struggling to get her body in contact with Maura's. Maura took her pity on her, slipping a hand between Jane's legs, she ran her fingers over Jane's core. She circled her clit slowly with her fingers while Jane pushed her hips up, grinding against Maura's hand.

"Fuck. Maura. Please." Jane struggled to speak, only managing a few words. Maura slipped a finger inside her, stroking her firmly. Jane's breath hissed out of her as she upped the pace, thrusting against Maura. She reached her hand down, slipping it between Maura's legs.

"Jane…"

"I want you to come with me." Jane said, her eyes focusing intently on Maura's. She pushed inside the blonde quickly, feeling that she was already soaking wet. Maura forgot her arguments and instead focused on thrusting into Jane while Jane's long fingers practically undid her. Maura moaned softly, feeling that she was already close. Jane watched as Maura closed her eyes. She didn't stop stroking Jane and Jane knew that she was so close.

"Maur…" Jane groaned out just as Maura began to rub Jane's clit with her finger. The sudden pressure was enough to cause Jane to come, her body shuddering and her breaths gasping. As soon as Jane could think again, she resumed the pace she had set inside Maura, catching the blonde slightly unaware. She was still above Jane, legs straddling one of Jane's thighs as Jane pushed in and out of her.

"C'mon Maur." Jane whispered. She thrust a few more times before feeling Maura's muscles clench around her fingers. Maura rode out her orgasm, breathing deeply before falling onto the bed next to Jane. She ran a hand through her damp hair before turning to the brunette.

"We should go on vacation more often."

**-Thanks again for reading! Keep leaving me comments, I love them! **


	18. Happy

Jane awoke gradually, noticing the warm sunlight beating across her face. She knew it must be midmorning by the amount of sun shining in the open window. She and Maura had spent the evening lazily, ordering in food and enjoying each other's company.

Jane stretched her arms above her head and glanced around the bungalow. Maura wasn't in the kitchen or living room, which left the bathroom or outside. Not hearing water running, Jane assumed that the blonde was on the deck or in the water. Jane got out of bed, grabbing a silk robe of Maura's off of a chair and wrapping it around her body. She padded outside to the deck and found Maura in one of the chairs, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

"Morning." Jane murmured, leaning down to kiss the blonde's lips.

"Good morning." Maura replied, taking in the sight of the detective in a silk robe that was far too short on the lanky brunette. "That robe is a bit more scandalous on you that it is on me."

Jane laughed and glanced down, realizing how much of her legs were showing. "Well I've gotta do something, you spend most of your time here naked. I'm not that comfortable with myself."

Maura smiled back at the other woman. "Well I appreciate the effort." She said, running her hand up Jane's bare thigh. "There's more coffee in the kitchen if you want some."

"How did I not smell you making coffee?" Jane asked.

"I ordered it."

"You ordered room service just for coffee?" Jane asked, incredulously.

"No, I got some bagels and muffins too." Maura replied, matter of factly. "Besides, they have a special house roast thats grown on the island. It's quite wonderful."

Jane shook her head, but had to smile at the blonde. "Okay, okay, I better try some of this _fabulous_ coffee." Maura quickly aimed a swat at Jane's side playfully as she beamed at the brunette.

"Oh admit it Jane, you enjoy my unique quirks." She teased lightly.

Jane simply rolled her eyes and walked back inside to get a cup of coffee and a bagel. She returned to the table and picked up the sports section of the newspaper but found it hard to focus on the words on the paper. Between the breathtaking view of the sparkling ocean and the blonde in front of her, she couldn't seem to concentrate on something as boring as the score from last night's baseball game.

She alternated between staring out at the water and stealing glances in Maura's direction.

"Jane…" Maura said, not looking up from the article she was reading. "Something on your mind? You seem a bit distracted this morning."

Jane returned her gaze to Maura and the blonde looked up from the paper, meeting her eyes.

"Hm?" Jane asked. "Oh I don't know. I was just thinking… I mean its only been three months. You know since we — "

"Got together?" Maura asked, staring into Jane's eyes.

"Yeah. I mean its just… Isn't it weird? We ended up in a hotel room by chance in Chicago of all places and now three months later we're sitting in a bungalow over the water in Tahiti."

Maura looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "I suppose its odd. But honestly I've had a feeling this was coming for a while now."

"Really?" Jane asked.

"I could feel the way things were between us for quite a while now. At first I wasn't sure what the feelings meant. You know I didn't have that many close friendships when I was younger. I wasn't sure, I thought maybe this was what friendships were like." She said, taking a sip of her coffee. "But after a while I knew. I knew that there was something different between us. But I also knew that you hadn't realized it yet. I wasn't sure that you ever would. I was content to keep our friendship the way it was."

"You mean you knew that there was something between us? Something romantic?" Jane asked.

Maura nodded with a smile. "You were so oblivious Jane."

"Obviously, because I had no idea that I was interested in you until Chicago. It was like a lightbulb went off, suddenly I saw who you were, that you were right in front of me." Jane struggled to find the words she wanted to describe the moment. "It's like when you walk past a building every day. You know its there, you could describe it if someone asked you to, but you never truly see it. Then one day you stop and actually truly examine it and you realize that its a truly breathtaking example of gorgeous architecture."

Maura smiled a bemused smile, "Did you just compare me to a building, Jane?"

"You know what I mean, smartypants." Jane said with a grin. You know you take something for granted and then its like you suddenly see it in a different light completely."

Maura nodded. "No, I understand what you mean. I'm just glad you figured it out. I thought I was going to have to continue going on boring dates with people I wasn't even interested in to distract myself from you."

"You used men to distract yourself from me?" Jane asked, flushing slightly at the thought.

"Well mostly men. But some women." Maura declared with a wide grin.

"Maura!" Jane gasped, her mouth falling open slightly.

"What you thought you were the first woman I'd ever slept with?" Maura asked, brazenly. "I wanted some experience in case the day came when you finally came to your senses."

Jane continued glaring at the blond, surprised by her admission.

"Oh Jane, don't look so shocked." Maura said gently.

"I'm not shocked." Jane huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

Maura gazed at her inquisitively for a few moments before her eyes lit up. "You're not shocked. You're jealous!"

"What? Am not." Jane retorted, reaching down to take a big bite of her bagel.

"Oh really?" Maura asked. "Is that why you've reverted to acting like a five year old?"

"Hmph." Jane huffed through a mouthful of bagel.

Maura grinned at the brunette, her eyes dancing mirthfully. She put her coffee cup down on the table and got up, coming around to the other side where Jane was sitting. She straddled the brunette's legs, placing her hands on each of Jane's shoulders. Jane could feel the warmth of Maura's skin through her thin pajama pants.

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli," Maura began, ignoring Jane's sound of protest at the use of her middle name. "It's all over. It was over the day that you looked at me in Chicago, when you kissed my arm and then I kissed you. I knew you were the one for me." She emphasized her point by leaning in to kiss the brunette softly.

"Really?" Jane asked, her voice a whisper.

"Of course." Maura replied, gazing deeply into the brunette's eyes. "It was perfectly clear to me and I could only hope you felt the same way. I _can_ only hope you feel the same way." She corrected herself looking questioningly into Jane's face.

Jane thought a moment before she answered. "I did. I mean, I do. I didn't know why I felt that way at the time. Hell I still don't know why." Jane replied with a grin. "But I know that I could be happy with you for the rest of my life. I _want_ to be happy with you for the rest of my life."

Maura smiled slowly, her eyes glistening slightly.

"Oh my God!" Jane exclaimed, suddenly realizing exactly what she'd said. "That sounded like a marriage proposal. Shit. I'm sorry. I mean, I'm not sorry. I meant it. But I didn't exactly mean to say that, you know, right now."

Maura laughed at the brunette and Maura interrupted her frantic words by placing a finger on Jane's lips. "It's alright Jane. I want to be happy with you for the rest of my life too. Whatever that means."

**- Thanks for sticking around; I know I haven't been able to write much at all lately! Phew, second day of their vacation and the talk has already turned to marriage! Although, really who's surprised with these girls? Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D**


	19. Little black dress

"Jane?" Maura called, stepping out on the porch.

"Mmm?" Jane asked, popping an eye open to glance at Maura from where she was lounging in the hammock on the porch.

Maura grinned when she saw the lanky brunette's swimsuit clad body spread out in the sun.

"I made us reservations at the hotel's restaurant for seven." Maura said, coming to stand next to the hammock.

"Oh you did?" Jane asked. She smirked and pulled Maura onto the hammock next to her. Maura giggled and rolled to face Jane.

"Yes… and you know that means you have to put something other than a swim suit on." Maura said, running a finger under the band on Jane's top. Jane jerked away from Maura's touch.

"Ticklish Jane?"

"No." Jane replied, attempting to keep a straight face, but failing miserably. "Okay, maybe."

Maura smiled gleefully and ran her fingers over Jane's ribs. Jane grabbed Maura's hand and squeezed her fingers together.

"Maura Isles, if you don't stop I'll be forced to arrest you." Jane said, her face grave.

"Jane, I highly doubt you have any jurisdiction in Tahiti." Maura replied, matching Jane's serious tone.

"Why are you so cheeky, smartypants?" Jane asked, her face breaking into a grin. "And, I may not have jurisdiction here but I did bring handcuffs with me… Just in case." Jane husked, her voice dropping an octave. "Don't make me use them."

Maura flushed dark red and she glanced down at Jane's body, then peeked up at Jane through her full lashes. "I might be okay with that?" Maura whispered and bit her lower lip.

Jane smirked and threaded her hands through Maura's hair, pulling her in for a scorching kiss.

"I am going to remember that… tonight." Jane breathed in between kisses. "After I let you dress me up and take me out for dinner."

Maura pulled back to look at Jane. "You'll let me dress you? Even in a _dress_?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I 'spose." She then grinned devilishly. "I'm sure I can think of a few ways you can repay me for it."

They spent the next few hours lying in the hammock, sun tanning and talking about nothing in particular.

Maura rolled out as the sun began to sink lower in the sky. "I better go shower."

Jane made a move to roll out too but Maura stopped her. "Nope. If you shower with me it will take far too long."

Jane huffed in annoyance.

"You know I'm right. You can have it after I'm done."

Jane smiled to herself as Maura walked back inside. The blonde knew her well. Jane moved to the edge of the deck and dipped her feet in the water. She stared pensively out at the rippling blue water, pondering how much this vacation was costing Maura. Jane was pretty certain that Maura had more money than she knew what to do with, but Jane still felt guilty allowing the blonde to pay for everything. Jane didn't fight her because she knew that Maura would insist, and that was an argument Jane was never going to win. Besides, Jane didn't have enough money to trot all over the globe on a whim.

But perhaps she should get Maura something, a token of appreciation. They hadn't exchanged gifts since they started dating, there hadn't been an occasion. Jane decided she would go out shopping at some point when she got a chance. She figured that a resort as big as the one they were staying at had to have a couple of nice shops for the rich people to frequent.

Jane's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden drizzle of water down her back. She yelped and turned around to find Maura standing, with a towel wrapped around her body. She had her wet hair twisted in her hand, and an impish grin on her face.

"Shower's all yours." Maura said, tousling her damp waves innocently.

"You are a bad actress, Maur." Jane teased with a grin as she stood up. She stepped close to the other woman and placed a kiss on her shoulder, freckled from the sun.

She squeezed Maura's hip and made her way inside to take a shower. As she lathered up her hair with shampoo she found herself singing under her breath. She hadn't even been aware that she started and she practically laughed at herself when she realized that she was singing an Ace of Base song.

_I saw the sign_

_And it opened up my mind_

_And I am happy now living without you_

_And it lifts me oh, oh, oh, oh_

She grinned and shook her head at herself. She didn't even know she knew the words to that song. She rinsed her hair out and finished her shower, humming the tune to the rest of the song.

When she stepped out she saw Maura towel drying her hair. She looked at Jane in the mirror and grinned. "Nice singing."

Jane grabbed a towel to wrap herself in and blushed slightly.

"Ace of Base though, really?" Maura asked, setting the towel down. "I would never have guessed you were into Swedish pop."

"Swedish pop?" Jane asked, bewildered. "No way. That song was all over the radio."

Maura grinned. "It was a very popular song for a time."

Jane came up and grasped the lapels of Maura's robe firmly. "I can't believe you've even heard of it. I thought you only listened to classical music." She teased, running her thumb over Maura's clavicle. Maura shivered at the touch and gazed up at Jane.

"I've heard some pop music. It's inevitable at times."

Jane simply smirked at the blonde and pulled her forward. She went to move toward Maura's mouth, but veered at the last minute, dipping her mouth down to the side of Maura's neck. She kissed the soft skin there and Maura sighed softly.

"You know they were actually a very popular group. They were one of the best-selling groups from Sweden, after ABBA of course." Maura murmured softly.

Jane laughed into Maura's hair. "Where is the off button, Google?"

Jane could feel Maura stiffen slightly against her body. She pulled back to look at the blonde.

"Hey, I'm just kidding." Jane said, softly. "You know I'm teasing you. I love your Googlemouth. Besides you're so much hotter than Wikipedia."

Maura relaxed slightly and smiled. "I don't think you can really call an online encyclopedia good looking, Jane.

"Whatever." Jane replied. "You know what I mean. And you are definitely sexy." Jane said, pulling on one end of the belt on Maura's robe so it came untied. Maura grabbed at the ends of her robe that had fallen open.

"Jane." She chided, tying the belt again. "You have to get dressed. And I have to get ready."

Jane shook her head in an exaggerated manner, her sopping curls spraying Maura with water.

Maura laughed and covered her face with her hands.

"You are impossible."

—

Jane was laying on the bed with her head hanging off the side, hair brushing the floor, when Maura emerged from the bathroom.

"Jane!"

"What?" Jane asked, looking at Maura upside down. "I'm drying my hair."

Maura sighed and shook her head. "I thought you were going to get dressed."

"You said you would dress me. Or don't you remember?" Jane asked, arching an eyebrow which looked quite ridiculous on her upside down face.

"Oh for goodness sake. Sit up." Maura instructed, walking to the wardrobe where she'd hung up all of her clothes. She pushed aside a few hangers before pulling out a simple black dress. It was sleeveless and dipped low in the back before a few straps crisscrossed the open back.

"At least its black." Jane said as she took the dress from Maura. She walked over to her suitcase, sifting through it to find a pair of underwear. Maura had taken another hanger and gone into the bathroom with it. Jane found the black lace boy shorts she was looking for finally and turned to make sure Maura was still in the bathroom. She slipped them on and then pulled the dress over her head. She crept over to the full length mirror on one side of the room. She peered at herself, admiring how dark her tan looked offset by the black dress. She turned to admire the scandalously low dip of the dress, showing off the smooth muscles of her back. She pulled at the hem, it was bit shorter than she preferred but she didn't mind that much.

"Did you buy this dress for me?" Jane called to Maura.

"Mmm. Maybe." Maura replied.

Jane grinned at herself in the mirror. This was not a dress Maura would pick for herself. This was a dress she had picked specifically for Jane.

"You know I don't have any shoes to wear with this? I'm going to look pretty stupid at the restaurant barefoot." Jane called.

"In my suitcase. The black pair of heels."

"Oh, I'm sure you just happen to have brought along some shoes in my size as well." Jane muttered under her breath. She wasn't really annoyed with Maura. She knew looked pretty damn hot in the dress and she didn't mind dressing up for Maura. It seemed like it was the least she could do, seeing how Maura wore designer clothes on a daily basis. It wouldn't kill Jane to do it every once and a while.

She pulled out the pair of black heels and slipped them on. She examined the finished product as she pulled some of her hair over her shoulder. She glanced up to see Maura's smile reflected at her in the mirror. She turned to face the blonde, admiring her light blue dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. She had finished out her outfit with another pair of impossibly high heels, these in silver.

Jane grinned and moved towards the other woman. "I really like the designer of this dress."

"You do?" Maura asked, quizzically.

"Hell yes, anyone who can make you look this gorgeous gets my approval." Jane replied with a grin.

Maura grinned back at her, "You don't look half bad yourself. You clean up pretty well, Rizzoli."

**- Hello all! Thanks for reading. Sorry this is a bit uneventful but I wanted to upload something. I've got an idea of what I want to do for the next chapter so hopefully I'll get it written easier than this one. **


	20. Shop till you drop

**- Super long chapter to make up for my absence. Don't know why this one was so hard to get out of my head and onto the screen. **

Jane and Maura made their way back down the dock to their bungalow after dinner, Maura wobbling unsteadily on her heels. She grasped Jane's arm and leaned into the brunette, she was giggling lightly at something one of the other restaurant goers had been wearing. Jane reveled in the feeling of the blonde's weight on her arm, her head warm and fuzzy from all the wine they'd had with dinner.

Maura slid her arm around Jane's waist, trailing her fingers over Jane's exposed back. Jane shivered and leaned down, nuzzling into Maura's neck. They reached the door to their bungalow and stood facing each other.

"Dinner was lovely." Maura breathed, standing just a few inches from Jane.

"It was. Although, you know, you made the reservations." Jane pointed out. "And dressed me. So I don't really know why you're thanking me."

Maura grinned and leaned in to softly kiss Jane. Jane smiled against the blonde's lips and pulled back.

"_Thank you_ for this dress that you claim you didn't buy for me, but I know that you secretly did." Jane said with a grin.

"You're welcome." Maura answered easily, moving forward to wrap her arms around Jane's neck. "It was a great choice. I've wanted to tear it off of you all night."

"Looks like it did its job then, huh?" Jane asked, smirking.

Maura's hands were already on Jane's sides, one reaching for the hidden side zipper of the dress. She pulled it down, slipping warm fingers against Jane's ribs.

"Inside." Jane mumbled against the blonde's lips. Maura nodded her agreement and pulled out the key to the door, turning it in the lock and pushing the door open. Maura pushed the brunette through the door and closed it behind them.

Jane turned and kicked off her heels, she grabbed Maura's hand and pulled her towards the bed. She stopped short when she saw the steps up to the bed covered in red. At first her wine addled mind thought it was blood, but then she realized that was ludicrous. At second glance she saw that it was red rose petals scattered on the floor and up the steps to the section of the bungalow with the bed. There was a larger pile of the petals on the bed in the shape of a heart.

"Too much?" Maura asked with a smile.

Jane laughed and shook her head. "No, it's adorable."

"_You're_ adorable." Jane said, moving forward to capture the blonde's lips.

—

"Let's go shopping!" Maura said enthusiastically, plopping down on the bed beside Jane the next morning.

"Maura…" Jane groaned, pulling a pillow over her face.

"C'mon Jane. I want to check out a clothing shop the concierge told me about."

"I was thinking about going to the gym." Jane replied, her sentence muffled by the down pillow over her head.

"Hm?" Maura teased, pulling the pillow off of Jane.

"Gym?" Jane asked, a pleading smile on her face. "It works perfectly, you can shop and I can fit in a workout."

Maura rolled her eyes. "Oh I suppose." She leaned down to kiss the brunette. "Besides this way I don't have listen to you whine about how many pairs of shoes I'm going to buy."

Jane grinned back at the blonde. "It's a win-win!"

Maura got dressed and Jane made a show of hunting for her workout gear in her suitcase.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Call if you want to join me after your workout." Maura called as she picked up her purse.

"Okay, see ya." Jane replied. She waited a few minutes until she was certain Maura was gone and slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top. Jane had decided that she was on the hunt for a present for Maura and a trip to the gym was a good cover. She knew that Maura could shop for a long time and likely wouldn't be back before Jane.

Jane locked the door to their bungalow and made her way to the main building of the hotel. She stopped at the concierge to inquire about jewelry stores close. The man at the desk gave her a list of a couple to try and Jane set off, unsure exactly what she was looking for.

The taxi pulled up in front of the first shop on the list and Jane appraised it, it didn't look like much from the outside but from living in Boston she'd learned that you couldn't judge a book by its cover. Some of the best meals she'd ever eaten were at tiny hole in the wall places that most people passed right by.

A bell on the door jangled as Jane walked in and she waited as her eyes adjusted from the bright sunshine outside to the darker interior.

"Hello?' A woman called from the back of the store. "Oh crap," Jane thought. "I didn't even think about the fact that they might not speak English. Well this should be interesting."

"Hello." Jane answered, making her way over to the jewelry case closest to her.

"How can I help you miss?" The woman asked, making her way towards Jane. She was an older woman, probably in her 60's, and she was much shorter than Jane. Jane was relieved that they would at least be able to understand each other.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest." Jane replied, gazing at the simple gold bracelets in the case that she was in front of.

"Something for you? Or someone else?" The woman asked, her dark eyes appraising Jane.

"Oh, um, someone else. A friend." She lied easily, she wasn't sure that she wanted to have _that talk_ with some random Tahitian woman.

"Tahiti is famous for it's pearls." The woman informed Jane in her lilting accent. She led Jane to another case and stepped behind the counter to remove a necklace. It was a simple silver chain with a smoky, grayish pearl at the center.

"Hmmm." Jane mused to herself. The necklace was gorgeous but she wasn't sure it was exactly _Maura._

"We also have other colors of pearls, not all of them from Tahiti though." The woman continued pointing Jane to a different case. As Jane made her way to the case that the woman was pointing to another case caught her eye. This one was filled with an odd assortment of jewelry, most of it looked much older than the pieces in the other cases.

Jane stopped and allowed her eyes to glide over the necklaces in that case. Many of them were yellow gold. There were a few men's watches and wedding bands thrown in for good measure. She was beginning to walk away when a silver glint caught her eye. She stopped and bent down to get a better look. Hidden among a few gaudy oversized rings was an antique looking white gold, diamond ring.

"Excuse me?" Jane asked, turning to face the woman. "Could I see something from this case?"

The woman bustled over to where Jane was standing and Jane pointed at the ring. The woman reached inside the case, moving the other rings aside to pick it up.

"Ahh," She said with a knowing look. "This is an antique 1930's engagement ring. It was sold to me by a woman a few months ago, it was her mother's ring."

She handed the ring to Jane and Jane turned her hand, so that the center diamond caught the light. The band was thicker than many current ring's bands and the diamond was flatter but still fairly good sized. There were many smaller diamonds that wound their way around the biggest diamond and down the sides of the band.

"I didn't know you were looking for a ring." The saleswoman said as Jane admired it.

"Neither did I." Jane said, mostly to herself. This ring was definitely not your typical Tiffany's solitaire engagement ring with one giant diamond, it was more understated but in some way more beautiful because it was unlike so many of the modern rings.

Jane had come in thinking that she would get Maura some meaningful gift, perhaps a necklace. They had somewhat accidentally discussed marriage the other day but Jane honestly hadn't given the idea much thought since then. Why then, did she seem so drawn to this ring?

"This ring has about a carat and half worth of diamonds in it." The woman said, smiling warmly at Jane. "It's a gorgeous ring. Very unique. You don't see very many like this anymore."

"It is beautiful." Jane agreed. "How much is it?"

She gritted her teeth in anticipation of the woman's answer, she couldn't even believe she was considering buying an engagement ring. Although even if she bought it, it wasn't like she had to give it to Maura right away.

Jane was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear the woman reply.

"I'm sorry?" She asked, shaking her head to clear it.

"Eleven thousand."

Jane unclenched her jaw. That wasn't as horrible as she'd been expecting. "What size is it?"

"A six I believe."

Jane was fairly certain that that was the size Maura wore because the blonde had mentioned it on a few occasions, in passing, to Jane. Jane smiled to herself, or perhaps not exactly in passing.

"I'll take it." Jane said, handing the ring back to the woman, wondering if her impulsivity was a good idea.

The woman smiled knowingly and eyed Jane carefully. "Must be a very close friend."

Jane blushed but didn't respond. She reached in her back pocket and pulled her credit card out of her wallet. She didn't spend so much money on a regular basis, but for some reason she was feeling quite content with her decision to buy the ring. It just seemed so right, she was surprised how little time it had taken her to decide. The woman tucked the ring in a black velvet box and swiped Jane's credit card. She handed Jane the credit card receipt to sign and then handed her the tiny box. Jane took it , running her fingers over the outside, amazed at how heavy it felt to her.

"Thank you miss." The woman said, bowing her head slightly before smiling at Jane. "Enjoy."

"Thank you." Jane replied before heading out the door, bell jingling as she left.

—

When Jane got back in the taxi she texted Maura asking where she was at. She got the name of the shop and gave it to the taxi driver. She flipped open the velvet box and examined the ring again, the gems sparkled even more out in the sunlight. She admired it for a few minutes before snapping the lid shut and sliding it in her pocket.

The cabbie caught Jane's eye in the rearview mirror and grinned. "Ahhhh, vous êtes amoureux."

"I'm sorry?" Jane asked. "I don't speak French."

"You are in love?" He asked.

Jane flushed and smiled. "Yeah… I suppose I am."

The cabbie gave her a mega-watt grin and returned his gaze to the road.

They pulled up in front of the shop Maura was at in a few minutes and Jane thanked the cabbie and paid him.

"Good luck!" He called cheerfully as she got out.

She grinned and made her way up to a cluster of shops and entered the right one. She found Maura standing in front of a mirror towards the back of the shop, holding a light purple dress up in front of her body.

Jane came up behind the blonde, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Hey there."

"Oh! Hello Jane." Maura glanced at the brunette in the mirror, smiling. "Did you enjoy your workout?"

"Yeah, it was pretty busy so I didn't stay that long." Jane replied. "Have you found anything?"

"Of course." Maura answered breezily before putting the dress she was holding back on the rack. "I've already sent most of it back to the hotel."

"Ahh, of course you have." Jane grinned.

"I'm just going to try a couple of things on and then I think I'll be ready to go." She grabbed a few hangers and moved toward a dressing room in the back corner.

Jane followed her and slipped in the room behind the blonde quickly.

"Jane!" Maura hissed. "Do you think this is a good idea?"

"Sure."

Maura glared at the brunette but broke into a smile after only a few seconds.

"Don't worry, the saleslady was busy with a couple of other people. She won't even notice." Jane assured Maura, moving forward to wrap her arms around the smaller woman. She rested her cheek in Maura's hair, breathing in her scent. "Besides you might need help getting undressed."

Maura snuggled her face into Jane's neck, giggling lightly. "You are really no help, whatsoever Jane."

"What?" Jane asked, pretending to be incredulous. "I am very good at getting you undressed." She moved down, sucking lightly on the blonde's earlobe. Jane heard Maura's breath catch and moved down to suck on the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Jane!" Maura half-heartedly batted Jane away. "At least help me by unbuttoning me."

Jane grinned and happily did as she was told, reaching behind Maura to unbutton her sundress. She slipped it over the blonde's head.

Maura moved forward, kissing Jane lightly before turning to grab the shirt she was trying on off the hanger. "I really do want to try these on."

Jane smiled and backed up against one of the walls, watching Maura adjust the shirt and pull on a pair of shorts.

"What do you think about these shorts?" Maura asked, turning to look at the short tan shorts from a different angle.

"I like everything you wear." Jane replied before coming to place her hands on Maura's hips. "But these are very nice."

Maura grinned in Jane's direction before returning her gaze to the mirror. "Hmmm." She mused. "Maybe if I buy them it will force the weather to get warmer in Boston."

"Ugh." Jane groaned. "I'd kind of forgotten that it's still cold back home. Don't you just want to stay here forever? I'm sure we could find jobs."

Maura laughed before slipping out of her outfit and into another one.

"I highly doubt that we could find jobs like we have at home, here." She answered.

Jane shrugged. "Oh well, it was worth a try."

After a few more outfit changes Maura gathered up her purchases and stepped out of the dressing room. Jane waited a few seconds before slipping out too. Maura paid for the clothing and they made their way back to the hotel.

Later that evening as the sun was setting Jane suggested that they take a walk on the beach. They hadn't really spent that much time on the sand since they had a private dock and ready access to the water. Maura happily agreed and the pair set out when the sun was low in the sky.

Jane enjoyed the heat of the sand beneath her feet and the feeling of Maura's hand in hers as they strolled along the beach. They talked some, but both seemed happy to simply enjoy each other's company and the setting sun.

"Do you want to sit?" Jane asked after they'd walked for a while. "The sky is gorgeous." She looked up at the reds and oranges fading into magenta then dark blue.

"It is." Maura agreed and they settled onto the sand. Jane dug her toes into the sand and turned to look at Maura. She was gazing up at the setting sun, her face content, blonde waves splayed out across her sun kissed shoulders. Jane smiled as Maura turned to look at her.

"What?" She asked, her expression flickering to uncertainty for a moment.

"Nothing. Just, you're beautiful." Jane replied with an easy smile.

Maura broke into a grin. "You really know how to win a girl over."

Jane laughed and suddenly it struck her, she should propose. _What?! _She'd almost exclaimed the word out loud she was so startled by the thought. She tried to regain control of her facial muscles, and she turned her gaze back to the sunset. _Was now the time? She hadn't even though of it happening this way. But maybe that was okay? The element of surprise and all of that. _

She could feel the weight of the jewelry box in her pocket. She hadn't taken it out since the taxi ride that afternoon.

"Jane?" Maura asked, interrupting Jane's internal monologue.

"Yeah?" She asked, swinging her gaze back to the blonde.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Jane asked.

"Well, you're sort of clutching at the sand for dear life." Maura pointed out with a concerned smile.

Jane looked down at her hands and laughed. "Oh, yeah I guess I was." She unclenched her hands, picking up some of the sand and sifting it from hand to hand. Then she rubbed her hands together, shaking the sand off of them before reaching into her pocket. Her fingers closed around the velvet box but she couldn't quite bring herself to pull it out.

_C'mon Rizzoli, stop being a wuss. Pull the box out. _

She took a breath and pulled it out, keeping it hidden in her hand. She turned back to face Maura and swallowed hard. "Maura?"

Maura turned to face Jane again, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"I…uh." Jane stammered. Her mind was blank. How did people usually do this? They surely didn't just jump straight to the 'marry me' part. There had to be some sort of lead up, but Jane couldn't for the life of her figure out what that was supposed to be. "I… I have a question to ask you."

Maura nodded slowly. "Okay. Ask away."

Jane shook her head slightly, trying to clear it. "I got something for you. I mean…" Jane mentally smacked herself on the forehead. _Idiot what are you doing?_ She played with the box in her right hand and she noticed Maura glance down. She looked back up at Jane, eyes widening. _Now you've done it, Rizzoli. Spit it out!_

"Would uh… _Will_ you marry me, Maura?" She asked, thrusting the box towards the blonde, flipping it open.

Maura glanced between Jane and the box that now lay open in Jane's hand, her mouth agape.

"I…" She stuttered. "Oh my gosh, Jane."

Jane picked the ring up out of the box, noticing that her hands were trembling. She looked back up at Maura, who was staring at Jane with tears glistening in her eyes.

"Yes!" Maura practically shrieked, throwing herself at Jane. "Of course I will!" She pulled Jane into a tight embrace and kissed the shell shocked brunette. She pulled back and took Jane's hand in hers.

"Aren't you going to put the ring on my finger?" She asked, smiling shyly. Jane grinned and took Maura's left hand in her right, sliding the ring easily onto the blonde's finger. It fit perfectly.

Jane pulled Maura in for another kiss and she felt wetness on Maura's cheeks. She pulled back and wiped away the tears with her thumb while Maura beamed at her.

"Oh my God. How do people do that? I thought I was going to have a heart attack." Jane exclaimed, letting out a deep breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

Maura continued to grin at her, "You know its highly unlikely you could give yourself a myocardial infarction from nervousness."

"Yeah, well it seemed less unlikely a minute ago." Jane retorted with a grin.

Maura brought her hand up in front of her, examining the ring that Jane had put on her finger in the waning sunlight. "This is really gorgeous, Jane."

"Thanks." Jane grinned sheepishly. "I honestly didn't plan on buying a ring and proposing to you, but I saw that ring and I just felt like I had to have it."

"It's lovely." Maura replied. "Art deco, 1920's, if I'm not mistaken." She said, turning her hand to admire it from every angle. "About one and a half carats, maybe?"

Jane stared at the blonde in disbelief. "What, were you a jeweler in another life?" She asked.

Maura grinned at Jane. "No. I'm not sure that I believe in reincarnation."

Jane rolled her eyes, wondering how this had become a philosophical discussion.

Maura grinned widely again and placed a soft kiss on Jane's lips. When she pulled back she reached down the neckline of her sundress, pulling out something that Jane couldn't see. She gazed up at Jane, her eyes dancing.

"Maura?" Jane asked slowly, drawing her name out.

"I have something for you as well." Maura said lightly, opening up her hand. Jane looked down and saw a platinum band sitting on the blonde's upturned palm.

She glanced up at the blonde in disbelief. "Wait, did you just pull that ring out of your cleavage?"

Maura laughed deeply and smiled at Jane. "Yes."

"How could I possibly turn down a marriage proposal from a woman that pulled the ring out of her bra!?" Jane asked with a laugh.

Maura held up the ring between her two fingers. "Will you marry me, Jane?"

"Yes. Absolutely." Jane replied with a grin and Maura slid the ring on her finger. She looked down at the simple platinum band that Maura had gotten her. On closer look, it actually had a slight design of swooping lines that turned into curlicues. It was beautiful, yet understated.

"I love you Maura Isles." Jane said, kissing the blonde lovingly.

"And I love you, Jane."

**- AHH! I didn't exactly go into this chapter with the knowledge that I was going to have them propose to each other.. but that's what happened so there ya go! I hope you enjoyed it. And if you're interested in the style of ring that Jane got Maura (and that I spent waaay too much time researching) do a google image search for art deco engagement rings to see some examples. :) **


	21. Pillow talk

**- Agh! The semester is finally over. Well its been over for a while but I've been recovering for the past week. Sorry about the delay with this one… Hopefully the next few will be easier to get written. **

"Did you know you were going to propose tonight?" Maura asked as they lay in bed together, her head on Jane's chest.

"Nope. Not at all." Jane replied. "Honestly… I just bought the ring today."

"What?" Maura exclaimed, her head shooting off of Jane's chest.

Jane blushed slightly. "Yeah, I found the ring at a jewelry shop this morning. I still had it in my pocket tonight and I just decided that it seemed like the right time."

Maura narrowed her eyes slightly at Jane. "Is that what you were doing when you said you went to the gym?"

"Uh… yes." Jane answered slowly.

Maura tried, but failed to suppress a grin. "Oh well, I can hardly be mad at you for sneaking off to buy me an engagement ring."

Jane leaned down to kiss Maura's temple by way of a response.

"Wait, what about you? How long have you been hiding a ring in your cleavage?" Jane asked, smiling at the memory of the blonde producing Jane's ring.

"Mmm. I bought a little bit before we left. I had been keeping in nearby on this trip… I thought the opportunity might present itself where I would want to give it to you."

"Did you have a proposal in mind when you booked this trip?" Jane asked, curious how premeditated this had been.

"Not really. I just wanted to spend time with you and I really like Tahiti." The blonde responded with a grin.

Jane chuckled and ran her hand through the blonde's hair. "I like Tahiti too."

Both women for silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts.

"I want to get married in a field full of wildflowers." Jane said suddenly.

"Really?" Maura asked, lifting her head up to look at Jane. "Not Fenway Park?"

"Naw. Not really. Actually I kind of just said that because I wanted to annoy you." Jane admitted with a grin.

Maura rolled her eyes at Jane and pulled herself off of the brunette, turning over so that she was facing away from Jane.

"Maur…" Jane pleaded quietly. "C'mon, it was a joke. I did want to get married at Fenway Park when I was like, ten. Then I met you and… I knew that I wanted to get married somewhere that was actually sort of romantic…" She leaned over Maura's shoulder, brushing a blonde curl out of her way before placing a kiss on the freckles there.

Maura rolled onto her back so that she could look at Jane. "Really?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yes." Jane answered simply. "I'd even get married on that volcano island place you want to go to. Honestly I don't care where we get married as long as I get to marry you."

Jane could see Maura soften. "On further consideration I think the volcano is a bit overkill." The blonde whispered softly. "A field of wildflowers sounds pretty nice. Who would be there?"

"Well you and me." Jane said, leaning down to kiss Maura gently. "Obviously."

"Obviously." Maura repeated with a smile, kissing Jane again.

"My Ma, Frankie, Frost, Korsak." Jane continued. "I guess we could allow my father and Tommy to come too…"

"Jane." Maura admonished. "You have to invite your father and your brother."

"Yeah, I guess." Jane replied. "Your parents will be there too. Wait, do they even know that we're together?" Jane asked a stricken look on her face.

"Not really, no." Maura answered, her face thoughtful. "I suppose I had better call them."

"You mean you're just going to call them and tell them you're engaged?" Jane asked incredulously.

"Yes." Maura stated. "What's wrong with that?"

"Uh, nothing I guess."

"I'm sure they'll be happy enough." Maura mused. "I wonder extravagant gift they'll get us to make up for the fact that they aren't around much."

"Maura." Jane said quietly, wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"It's alright. I'm quite used to it." Maura answered diplomatically.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's not shitty." Jane huffed. "You should have parents that always have a hand in your business, like mine do. It's only fair!"

Maura smiled warmly at Jane. "That's alright, thats what I have _your_ mother for."

Jane pulled the blonde closer to her, gazing into her green eyes for a moment before kissing her softly on the lips.

"Oh yes. And we'll never be rid of her."

—

A few more blissful days passed but before they knew it, it was the day of their departure.

"Ugh, I can't believe we have to leave!" Jane moaned loudly, slamming her suitcase shut. She plopped face first on the bed in protest.

"Jane?" Maura asked, coming out of the bathroom, where she'd been packing. "You know, all good things must come to an end." She replied.

"Yeah, yeah." Jane mumbled, turning her head to the side to gaze at the blonde. "We are sooo coming back here."

"Whenever you want." Maura replied, throwing a loofah at Jane.

"Hey, that is not mine. Do I look like the type of person to pack a loofah on a vacation?" Jane asked, sitting up and hurling the sponge back at the blonde.

Maura quickly dodged the projectile and grinned at Jane. "Are you packed?"

"Yeah." Jane answered with a sigh.

"You should call the bellhop and tell them that we'll need a taxi back to the airport."

"Or I could not and we can just stay here."

"Jane…"

Jane shrugged and moved towards the phone. "It was worth a try."

An hour later the pair was through security and preparing to board their plane back to Boston.

"Its always bittersweet isn't it?" Jane asked as they handed their tickets to the gate attendant.

"Hm?" Maura asked.

"Going home?"

"Oh yes. I suppose so."

—

Halfway through their very long flight, Jane woke up to Maura's hand stroking her thigh. She rubbed the grittiness out of her eyes and glanced at the blonde in the seat next to her. Thanks to Maura's frequent flying, or more likely her platinum credit card, they were both cozily ensconced in the recliners that masqueraded as first class seats.

Maura grinned up at Jane impishly and continued rubbing Jane's upper thigh.

"Maur…" Jane hissed through gritted teeth. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing." Maura answered, widening her eyes in forced innocence.

"Oh really?" Jane asked, arching an eyebrow at the blonde. "I think you're being very mean and teasing your poor fiancé." Jane said, pouting.

Maura grinned wickedly. "I think I need to freshen up." She said a bit louder than normal. She moved to unhook her seatbelt. Whispering again she continued, "I'll get up and you wait a few minutes and then follow me."

"Maura!" Jane exclaimed. "You are _not_ suggesting what I think you are suggesting." She glanced at the empty seats around them. "We are NOT joining the mile high club."

"Oh I'm already a certified member of that club." Maura answered cheekily.

Jane groaned. "You don't understand ninety percent of my pop culture references, but you know this one?!"

Maura didn't answer but shook her hair over her shoulder and got up from her seat, making sure to give Jane a clear shot of her cleavage as she reached down to slip her shoe on.

She winked suggestively at Jane before sashaying down the aisle to the bathroom reserved for first class passengers.

Jane groaned and raked her fingers through her hair. She glanced around for the flight attendants and figured that they must be serving the coach section because they were nowhere to be found. She pushed away the thoughts of how this could go very wrong and quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, heading down the aisle.

She quickly slipped inside the lavatory still amazed that she was even allowing herself to participate in this.

"You know Maura - " Jane began as soon as she shut the door behind her, but she was quickly interrupted by Maura's mouth on hers.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come." Maura said throatily in between kisses.

"As if you gave me much of a choice…" Jane grumbled while Maura worked her way down Jane's neck, slipping a hand under the hem of Jane's tank top.

"Oh I always finish what I start." Maura reassured her as she deftly unbuttoned Jane's jeans and slipped a hand inside. Jane moaned as Maura pushed her up against one of the walls of the small room. She ran her fingers between Jane's legs, over her underwear before quickly pushing the lace aside. She dipped a finger inside Jane and Jane gasped, her head falling back. Maura grinned and nipped at the brunette's exposed neck.

"You're going to have to be quiet, Jane." Maura commanded stroking the brunette firmly before adding another finger. She pushed in and out a few times, feeling Jane's muscles already tightening around her fingers. A low groan was Jane's only response and Maura moved up to cover Jane's mouth with hers.

She continued her quick pace and moved her thumb over Jane's clit knowing that it wouldn't take much to send Jane over the edge. She kept her mouth on Jane's, quieting the brunette's moans as she came undone. She brought Jane down slowly and then pulled her hand out of Jane's jeans, re-buttoning them. She grinned devilishly, licking her fingers clean before placing a final kiss on Jane's shocked lips. She reached around Jane and unlatched the door, dragging a hand across Jane's hip on her way out.

As the door shut behind the blonde, Jane turned to stare at her reflection in the mirror. _What in the world had she gotten herself into?_

**- Thanks again for all the lovely reviews and follows. I love each and every one. You guys are awesome! :D**


	22. Rules of engagement

**- Next chapter! Apologies again on the wait.. but there's some SMUT to make up for it :D **

"Jane! Take your hands off the dip." Maura commanded, moving the bowl out of Jane's reach. "There's not going to be any left for our guests if you keep eating it."

"But it's so good." Jane mumbled through a mouthful.

"Well, thank you. But I'd appreciate if someone other than you got to taste it tonight."

Jane rolled her eyes, but then grinned at the blonde across the kitchen counter. She reluctantly stopped picking through the tortilla chips in front of her and came around to stand next to Maura.

"It looks great, Maur." Jane assured the blonde who was fussing with a candle in the middle of the counter. "Besides, it's just my family and Frost and Korsak coming over. They come over for dinner all the time."

"I know." Maura responded, finally leaving the candle alone. "I just can't help being nervous. I mean how often do you tell your friends that you're getting married?"

"Hopefully only once." Jane answered with a grin, leaning down to peck Maura on the lips.

Maura smiled back and pulled Jane to her, wrapping her arms around the brunette's neck. Jane hummed happily as she gazed into Maura's hazel eyes.

"We're getting married." Jane murmured.

"Yes we are." Maura agreed, kissing Jane softly.

They had both agreed on the way home that they would take their rings off for work and hold a small engagement party the next weekend to tell their family and friends. Jane had answered her mother's endless questions about their vacation, but Angela seemed suspicious that she wasn't finding out everything and Jane wondered if her mother could read her mind and already knew.

Just then the doorbell rang and Maura pulled away reluctantly.

"Must be Tommy, he's the only one who still rings the doorbell here." Jane said.

"Be nice, Jane." Maura scolded and Jane made a mock salute once Maura had turned her back. "I saw that."

"What, do you have eyes in the back of your head?" Jane asked in disbelief.

Maura shot her a look as she opened the door and ushered Tommy in. He was shortly followed by Frankie, Frost and Korsak. Angela arrived a few minutes later, to the guys digging into Maura's appetizers and discussing the most recent Red Sox game. She came over to give Jane a kiss and set down a bottle of wine.

"Oh thank you, Angela." Maura replied, taking out a corkscrew to open the bottle.

"Oh you're welcome, I'm sure its not as nice as the stuff you usually have, but I thought I ought to bring something."

The group sat down to dinner and after everyone was served, Angela turned expectantly to Jane. "Aren't you two going to tell us why we're here?"

Jane glanced quickly at Maura and grasped her hand on the table. "Well… Uh. We invited you all here because we have some news to share." Jane began, clearing her throat nervously. "We're getting married."

She looked to Maura who was beaming widely back at her, as the table exploded in noise.

"Congratulations!" Frost and Korsak exclaimed at the same time.

"I knew it!" Angela let out with a deep laugh.

Tommy and Frankie smiled and offered the couple their congratulations, although not with as much gusto as Frost and Korsak.

"Did this happen on your vacation?" Angela asked, reaching across the table for Maura's left hand so that she could inspect her ring.

"Yes." Maura answered. "Jane proposed to me and then I asked her as well."

"Aww, how adorable." Korsak said with a grin.

"You are such a hopeless romantic, Korsak." Jane teased. "It's so surprising you couldn't keep a wife around longer."

"Low blow, Janie." Korsak retorted, pretending to look hurt.

Jane laughed and didn't even remark on the use of the sickeningly sweet nickname her mother used for her.

"Well, it's very exciting." Angela remarked, grinning girlishly as she began to eat her dinner. "So when are you thinking about having the wedding."

"Mmmm, we're not sure." Jane said, swallowing a bite of chicken. "We don't want it to be a big deal so maybe at the end of the summer?"

"What, so soon?" Angela asked, almost choking on the piece of bread in her mouth. "How will that be enough time to plan everything? It's already almost May!"

"Don't worry about it Ma. We'll get it figured out." Jane reassured her mother and the rest of the dinner passed happily as everyone enjoyed the good food.

Jane was in the kitchen with Frost putting the dishes in the dishwasher after dinner. "I am really happy for you two, Jane." Frost said, handing Jane a dirty plate.

"Thanks Frost. You don't think its… too soon?" She asked, lowering her voice so as not to be overheard by the rest of the group in the living room.

Frost looked at her and grinned. "Naw. This was a long time coming. I think you were the only one who couldn't see it." He teased her gently.

Jane hit him jokingly on the shoulder and laughed. "Yeah, yeah."

Jane finished up the dishes and headed back to the living room, settling down on the couch next to Maura.

"So what about your parents, Maura?" Angela asked. "Have you told them?"

"Yes, I called them this morning, with the time difference you know." She explained. "My mother's in France right now, or at least I think she is."

"What did she think?" Angela pressed.

"Sheesh, Ma. Nosy much?" Jane asked, placing a hand on Maura's thigh.

"I'm just interested in my future in-laws!" Angela exclaimed.

"My mother sent her congratulations." Maura replied. "She said that she hoped to be coming through Boston in a month or so and wants to get together to meet Jane then."

"Well, good. We should all go out to lunch. Oh my goodness Jane, have you told your father?!" Angela exclaimed as the thought struck her.

Jane groaned loudly. "Not yet, Ma. I'll do it. Maybe I'll send him a card or something."

"Jane Clementine! Your father deserves more respect than a card!" Angela roared.

"Alright, alright. I'll give him a call or something." Jane muttered, holding her hands up in surrender.

—

After another hour or so, everyone said their goodbyes and headed out. Jane was washing out the wine glasses at the sink when she felt the warmth of Maura's body at her back. She turned around slowly, placing a hand on each of Maura's hips.

"Hey there." Jane husked, letting her voice drop. Maura grinned at Jane lustily and ran a hand through Jane's hair.

"Hey." Maura answered before capturing Jane's lips in a smoldering kiss. Jane deepened the kiss, squeezing Maura's hips through her dress.

Maura picked up the hem of Jane's t-shirt, her soft hands ghosting over the skin of Jane's lower stomach. Jane tightened her grip on Maura's hips, bringing the blonde towards her. She ran her hands down to the blonde's thighs, over the fabric of her dress, until she got to the hem and could push the lavender material up.

"I would like this dress better, if you weren't wearing it." Jane rasped, pulling back from Maura's assault on her mouth.

"Easily remedied." Maura responded and grabbed Jane's hand, leading her towards the bedroom. "You know if you unzip it on the way, this'll go even faster."

Jane grinned at the blonde and reached forward to unzip her. Maura pulled the dress off of her shoulders and stepped out of it as she made her way into the bedroom. She stood just inside the doorway to the bedroom in only her heels and a matching purple lace lingerie set.

"Does all of your underwear match?" Jane husked, moving quickly towards the blonde and wrapping her arms around the smaller woman.

"Jane." Maura chided. "You should know me well enough to know the answer is yes."

"What about the fuck me heels?" Jane asked, guiding Maura backwards towards the bed.

Confusion flitted across Maura's face. "These are just normal shoes…"

"Well, paired with only lingerie, they take on a decidedly different message." Jane responded, her voice gravelly.

She pushed the blonde onto her back on the bed and Maura let out a yelp of surprise before laughing. "Jane Rizzoli, what has gotten into you?"

"I don't know. Hopefully _you_, soon." Jane growled as she pulled her shirt over her head and stepped out of her pants.

Maura flushed pink, her eyes blazing with desire. Jane crawled up onto the bed, on her hands and knees above Maura. Maura bit her lip slowly, gazing up at Jane.

"Have I told you how irresistible it is when you do that?" Jane asked.

"Mmm. You may have mentioned it." Maura answered with a slow smile. She started to reach up to brush her hand against Jane's cheek but Jane stopped her, grabbing her hand and pinning it to the bed above the blonde's head. She grabbed Maura's other hand and brought it up to meet the first one, using her hand to hold Maura's arms there. With her other hand, Jane stroked Maura's cheek before running a finger over the blonde's full lips.

Maura moaned softly, keeping her gaze steady on Jane's face. Jane leaned down, kissing Maura deeply before pulling Maura's lower lip between her teeth. She sucked slightly before releasing it and pulling back to look at the blonde. Maura's eyes had closed, but now they flew open again, desire darkening the blonde's features.

"Jane." Maura said simply, but Jane knew what she wanted. Jane loosened her grip on Maura's arms. "Are you going to leave your arms up here?" She asked.

Maura nodded, skin flushing pink. "Yes. I'll be good."

"Oh you will, will you?" Jane asked with an impish grin.

She placed another kiss on the blonde's lips before moving down to suck on her neck. She dragged her teeth against the soft flesh there and grinned at the moan that elicited. She continued sucking for a few moments before pulling back to admire the red mark that was forming there. She moved down Maura's neck, leaving a trail of kisses as she went. She unclasped Maura's bra and pulled the flimsy lace off quickly, throwing it behind her.

Jane pulled a nipple into her mouth, sucking and biting the skin until it was hard under her tongue. Maura moaned loudly and Jane could see the muscles in her arms twitching with the effort of keeping her hands above her head. She grinned up at the blonde and moved over to the other breast, giving it the same treatment. Jane watched as Maura's breathing hitched, her chest rising more with each intake of breath.

Jane crawled back up to gaze into the blonde's face as she ran a finger over the tender skin of her stomach. She placed a soft kiss on the blonde's lips as she dragged her fingernails up Maura's sides. Maura's body shuddered and she opened her eyes to gaze at Jane.

"Jane… Please."

"Yes Maura? Am I driving you crazy?" Jane asked, her eyes darkened with lust.

"Yes!" Maura exclaimed, breathing deeply. "I just… I'm being good." She breathed out.

Jane grinned. "Yes you are. Do you think you should be rewarded?"

Maura simply nodded her head vigorously and her eyes slipped shut again as Jane ran a hand over Maura's stomach and down between her legs. She drew circles with the tip of her finger on the inside of the blonde's thigh.

Maura groaned and hitched her hips up, trying to find contact with Jane's hand.

"Patience, Maur." Jane rasped, moving her hands down each of Maura's legs towards the inside of her knees before dragging her fingernails back up. She hooked a finger under the waistband of Maura's boy shorts and pulled them down, going as slowly as she could manage. Maura arched her hips up off the bed, her fingers grasping at the comforter beneath them. "Ugh, fuck it.' Maura muttered.

Jane grinned, "Language, Maura." But she finally gave in and pulled the boy shorts over Maura's knees and off of her, tossing them on the floor.

She brought her hand back up, running her fingers up Maura's thigh before coming to hover over Maura.

"Jesus, Jane!" Maura exclaimed, her eyelids only half open as if the effort to open them all the way was more than she could manage.

Jane dragged her fingers over Maura's center, keeping her touch light as she positioned her body over Maura's so that she could see her face as she stroked the blonde firmly with two fingers. Maura's eyes flew shut and her face flushed in pleasure as Jane continued stroking.

"Jane." Maura pleaded, breathing heavily. "So close."

Jane acquiesced and slid two fingers inside of Maura, picking up a steady rhythm.

"Maura. Open your eyes. I want to see you come." Jane commanded. Jane could see the blonde struggle to follow the instruction through her haze of pleasure, but she managed it. She blinked quickly, her eyes greener than ever, staring up at Jane. Jane smiled and leaned down to kiss the blonde, never slowing her pace.

Maura was muttering nonsensical words and moaning as Jane changed her speed, forcing Maura to change the thrust of her hips. Jane could see that the blonde was close and felt her walls tightening around Jane's fingers. Jane watched, taking in the beauty of Maura's face contorted in pleasure as her mouth formed a perfect 'O' with the rush of her orgasm. She slowly eased Maura down, leaning down to kiss the blonde's mouth and neck.

"I love you Maura. You know that right?"

Maura nodded slightly, her eyes still closed. "'Course I do." She mumbled.

Jane took in Maura's sex flushed cheeks and her ruffled hair and smiled happily. "You've never looked more beautiful."


	23. Ribbons and things

**- AH, forgive me! It's been a long time. I apologize, but I haven't been inspired to write lately. Here's a chapter for you now though.**

"Jane? Jane? What do you think?" Maura asked, interrupting Jane's daydreaming. They were standing at the top of a small hill looking out over a field on the property of a bed and breakfast about an hour outside of Boston. They had come out to visit the space to see if they wanted to get married there.

"John was just saying that the whole field will be wildflowers in July." Maura continued gesturing at the white haired man who had been showing them around the property.

"It's great." Jane replied, turning back to Maura and John. "I think it's perfect. What about you?"

Maura broke into a wide smile and grasped Jane's left hand in her right. "I think its gorgeous."

"So it's settled." Jane remarked, turning to John. "We'll book it for the last weekend in July."

"Wonderful." The older man smiled, the weather skin around eyes crinkling. "Well lets head back to the house I've some more details to go over with you."

Jane squeezed Maura's hand and grinned at the blonde. "I can't believe we're really doing this." She murmured as they followed John back up to the house.

"I know." Maura replied. "It's starting to feel more real isn't it? I mean I've ordered my dress, you've got your outfit, we've chosen a cake and now we have the place."

"You're gonna be out of luck soon Maur. Better run while you still can." Jane teased lightly, wrapping her arm around the smaller woman.

"Nice try." Maura replied, playfully jabbing Jane in the ribs. "You can't get rid of me now."

They walked up the steps to the expansive wrap around porch on the bed and breakfast's main house and settled on the chairs to discuss tent rentals, chairs and tables.

Jane zoned in and out, leaving Maura to make most of the decisions. Jane had made it clear that the most important part for her was that they were together with their friends and family and that she would leave the smaller details to Maura.

"Okay, so we're going to do the tent for the reception afterwards, we've got the tables and chairs settled and we've already hired the DJ." Maura confirmed, signing a few pieces of paper confirming their choices.

"Sounds good." Jane replied, taking a sip of her lemonade as she gazed out over the slight hills around the house. "Oh and of course we'll want to book a room for the night afterward." Jane added. "Then we'll leave for the honeymoon."

Maura nodded her agreement and they said their goodbyes to John and his wife before making their way back to the car.

"Well there's a few more things to cross off my list." Maura said, pulling out a lavender planner that was stuffed full of papers, swatches and photos.

Jane rolled her eyes but turned to smile at Maura, sitting in the passenger seat flipping through the giant planner.

"There's not much left now." Jane said, reaching for Maura's hand and bringing it to her lips.

"I know, I just want to make sure that I don't forget anything."

"You're not going to. I mean, you've got my mother too. There's no way she'll let us forget anything important." Jane reassured the blonde.

"Two more months." Maura sighed wistfully, closing the planner.

"Far too long in my opinion." Jane responded with a grin.

—

Jane went to her final fitting alone, having assured her mother that there was nothing else to change, that she just needed to make sure all of the alterations fit her.

As she stepped out of the dressing room she stepped towards the full length mirror in the main area. Her consultant, Amy, was waiting to check the fit and rearrange anything.

"It looks wonderful." Amy replied, catching Jane's eye in the mirror.

"It really does." Jane agreed, turning to admire herself from a few different angles. After much agony and many fights with her mother, Jane had settled on simple white dress pants, a gauzy white shirt with silver and teal embroidery to match the colors they had chosen for the wedding, and a light silver vest over it.

It was simple and elegant and most of all Jane felt very comfortable in it. She could have worn a dress but she would have spent the whole day feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

"Anything that needs to be adjusted?" Amy asked.

"No, I don't think so." Jane replied. "It looks amazing."

"Your fiancé is a lucky woman." Amy said with a smile.

—

Jane pushed open the front door a few weeks later, they were getting close to the big day. She turned to set her keys down and almost fell down when she tripped over a stack of packages in the entry hall.

"Maur?" Jane asked, rubbing her knee where she'd banged it on a box.

"In here." Maura called from the direction of the living room.

Jane made her way towards the couch but stopped when she took in all of the flowers, ribbons, vases, the sheer amount of _stuff_ spread on every available surface in the dining and living room.

"Have you been buried alive?" Jane asked peering over a mountain of gift bags to find Maura sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the coffee table.

The blonde grinned and looked up from the bow she was hot gluing, "Very funny, Jane."

"No but really, have you looked around lately? It's like a party store exploded in our living room." Jane retorted, attempting to clear a spot off of the couch before sinking onto the floor next to Maura.

"Is this where you went after lunch? Frost said he thought he saw you sneaking out." Jane stated, absentmindedly picking up a gift bag.

"I had finished all my cases this morning so I decided to leave a little early." Maura replied, concentrating on the hot glue job she was doing. "Besides I wanted to get a jump start on all of this."

"You should have told me, I would have left. Or you could have waited till I got home. You didn't have to do it by yourself."

"Oh I didn't. Your mother was here for a while." Maura assured the brunette, glancing up with twinkle in her eye.

"Well in that case I'm glad you didn't ask me." Jane scoffed.

"Yes, I must say we probably got more done without you here." Maura teased, putting the bag she was working on down and pulling Jane towards her. She relaxed onto her back on the floor and pulled Jane on top of her.

"I agree." Jane whispered, her face only a few inches from Maura's. She hovered there for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of their breath mingling before leaning down to kiss Maura softly. "You know I was never that good at crafty things, my fingers always seemed too big."

"Yes well, I can think of other things your fingers are much better suited for." Maura smirked, capturing the brunette's lips again in a heated kiss.

**- We're getting close to the big day.. right now I'm planning a couple of chapters of the wedding and then an epilogue (so you can prepare yourself XD ) Once again I adore every review, follow and favorite I get. You guys make me super happy! **


	24. The big day arrives

-** A bit sooner than the last time I updated, yeah? Enjoy! **

"No a little to your left." Jane commanded. "YOUR left, Frankie." Jane stepped back a few paces to look at the white arch Frankie and Frost were setting up in the field where Jane and Maura would be getting married later that day.

"There we go. Now I think it's centered off of the center aisle." Jane decided, glancing back and forth between the arch and the chairs that were already set up.

"Good." Frost said, wiping his forehead with his hand. "Who knew you would be such a bridezilla."

"Oh hardee har har, Frost." Jane scoffed. "I am not a bridezilla. I just want the arch to be centered. Is that too much to ask?"

"Oh you know I'm just kidding Jane." Frost said with a grin, punching Jane playfully on the arm. "It looks great. Everything looks really good."

"Yeah, it does." Jane mused, turning to survey everything that was set up. The mid-morning sun beat down on her back as she looked out over the chairs, the arch set up in front of them. The owner of the property hadn't lied, the field behind the arch was covered in wildflowers, in bursts of yellow and white. The fields and slight hills stretching out behind them were awash in green and the sky was a beautiful bright blue with only a few clouds floating by. They couldn't have asked for better weather and it was warm but not scorching like some July days.

"What else needs to be done?" Frankie asked, coming to stand beside Jane.

"Honestly that's pretty much it." Jane replied. "John and his workers have already set the tent up and the tables and chairs are ready there. The DJ will be here in a couple of hours to set up the dance floor and his equipment."

"I guess that's about all there is for us to do. Maura's already taken care of the decorations and gift bags and given them to the B&B staff to set out." Jane stated, gathering her hair off her neck. "I guess now we just get to relax and get ready.

Frost and Frankie headed off to the main house where their things were. Jane walked in the opposite direction to a small cottage that was set aside for her to get ready in. Maura was up in the main house in one of the rooms with her mother to relax and get ready.

Jane pushed open the door to the small dwelling and found her suit hanging up on hook on the wall, her shoes laid out below it. Her mother had obviously been there because Jane had tossed the garment bag on the bed earlier that morning.

Jane walked into the spacious bathroom off of the bedroom and turned on the water in the shower allowing it to warm up as she peeled off her tank top and shorts. She stepped into the warm stream and basked in the feeling of the water. She took her time scrubbing her body with her favorite shower gel before washing her hair.

"Jane!" She heard her mother exclaim.

"In the shower." Jane called as her mother threw open the door and waltzed into the bathroom.

"Ma, I'm naked!" Jane exclaimed, trying in vain to find somewhere to hide in the glass enclosed shower.

"Yes Jane, most people generally shower nude." Her mother retorted with a snort. She flipped the toilet lid closed and plopped down on it.

"Did you get the arch set up?" She asked, grabbing a nail file off the counter.

"Yes…" Jane answered through gritted teeth, so much for her relaxing shower. "Didn't you see it on your way over here?"

Her mother ignored her question and continued to file her nails. "You know, I really didn't think that you'd be the first of my kids to get married. Honestly I thought it'd be Frankie."

"Yeah Ma, you've said that a few times." Jane replied, turning the water off and rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.

"Anyway, Maura looks lovely as usual." Angela said, putting down the nail file and handing Jane a towel as she stepped out of the shower.

"Wait, you've been to see Maura today?" Jane sputtered in disbelief.

"Of course, there's nothing that says that the bride's mother can't see the other bride on the wedding day." Angela answered nonchalantly.

"What's she doing, is she already dressed?" Jane asked eagerly as she wrapped the towel around her body.

"No of course not Janie. We still have two hours before the ceremony."

"Oh." Jane said, disappointed. She was hoping for some inkling as to what Maura was currently doing. It was strange that they weren't together, even if it was their wedding day. She hadn't seen Maura since the night before when she left Maura's house and went to stay at her parents for the night. Maura had insisted that they follow the tradition of not seeing each other on the day of their wedding.

"She was just getting her hair and makeup done when I was there." Angela said, following Jane as she made her way back into the bedroom. She slipped on the fluffy robe that was hanging on the back of the door and sat down at the vanity next to one of the windows.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her damp hair, wishing she was there to watch Maura get ready. She knew that one of their photographers was already there, capturing the process, so that thought would have to suffice for now.

Jane grabbed a bottle of lotion, rubbing it on her legs, lost in thought.

"Here, hand it to me." Angela instructed, motioning for the bottle of lotion. Jane handed it over and Angela spread some in her palm, she moved to massage it onto Jane's shoulders and arms.

"You know Janie, you've made me very proud. I don't tell you that enough. You are an amazing detective and now you're getting married. This isn't exactly how I pictured it would happen, or who I thought you would end up with but I think its even better than I imagined. I love Maura, she's a wonderful woman and she's a wonderful match for you." Angela said, placing the lotion on the table and running her hands through Jane's hair. "Now the real questions is what are we going to do with your hair."

"That was so sweet Ma… Until the hair part." Jane said, pretending to be insulted but she was used to her mother's abrupt changes of subject. "And I'm just going to wear it down."

"Well you should at least let me attempt to tame the curls somewhat." Angela pleaded.

Jane groaned. "It doesn't really matter what I say does it? You're going to do what you want."

"Of course, it'll be easier if you don't fight me." Angela grabbed a curling iron and plugged it into the wall.

"Are you sure you don't want your father to give you away today, Janie?"

"Ma, we've been over this." Jane groaned. "Maura and I are not having anyone give us away. We are not property and this isn't the 1800's. We're two grown adults who have decided to get married. I'm just going to stand up at the front with Barbara and Maura is going to walk down the aisle by herself."

"It's just not very traditional." Angela muttered.

"Right because our wedding is super traditional, Ma." Jane snapped. "What with the fact that its in a field and we are TWO WOMEN getting married."

"Alright, alright." Angela huffed, holding up her hands in surrender. "I just thought I'd ask again."

She huffed a few choice words under her breath but set to work on Jane's hair.

—

Jane looked up at the mirror 30 minutes later, fairly shocked at how good her hair looked.

"Wow Ma. It's like my hair actually has a style. The curls aren't simply out of control. How did you do that?" Jane asked, turning to look at her hair from multiple angles.

"Well that's what happens when you actually spend a few minutes working on it." She retorted but Jane could see the smile playing at her lips.

"Thanks Ma." Jane said, turning to give her mother a hug. She put on a bit of makeup and moved towards the bed, looking for her bag.

"I almost completely forgot Ma, I have something I need you to take to Maura." Jane exclaimed, pulling a box out of her bag.

"What is it?" Angela asked, taking the box from Jane.

"A necklace. It's a freshwater pearl, but it's tinted slightly blue. I just figured, you know something blue." Jane said, wondering if it was a dumb gift.

"Aw, Janie. That's lovely. You're so thoughtful." Angela replied, holding the box close to her heart, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Sheesh Ma, no need to get all emotional over it. Will you just take it up to her?"

Angela nodded and headed out of the small cottage. Jane shuffled around, unsure what to do. She felt like it was too soon to get dressed because if she did she'd most likely just get everything wrinkled.

A few minutes later Angela came back into the cottage. "Oh Janie, she absolutely loved it!" Angela burst out, coming to sit next to Jane on the bed. "Whatever you put in the note you wrote her must have been very sweet because Maura got teary eyed. I never would have believed you could be such a romantic!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Thanks Ma. So she liked it though?"

"Of course, she had her mother put it on immediately. It's gorgeous with her dress."

Jane perked up. "Her dress? What's it look like."

"Uh-uh Jane, you are not getting that information out of me, you are just going to have to wait until you see her." Angela replied with a satisfied smirk.

—

They were getting close now, only about 15 minutes until the start of the ceremony. Jane had been standing in the window of the cottage watching their family and friends trickle in for the last 30 minutes. People were milling about, chatting with one another and staking out their spots in the rows of chairs.

Jane fussed with the collar of her shirt and straightened her vest nervously. She felt like she was being suffocated by the clothes, but that was probably more related to nerves. It wasn't that she was nervous about getting married, she knew she wanted to do that, it was more nervous energy. She just wanted to see Maura and be together, it was them being apart that was making her jittery.

"Jane, stop fidgeting!" Her mother exclaimed. "You're going to make everything all wrinkled. You're worse than a 5 year old."

"I'm just ready." Jane replied, stuffing her hands in her pockets to give them something to do.

Just then she caught sight of Barbara, the officiant that they had chosen to perform the ceremony making her way towards the cottage.

"There's Barbara." Jane declared. Barbara was a woman in her 60's with salt and pepper hair and she was dressed in a flowing black dress. She knocked on the door to the cottage and Jane moved to let her in.

"Hello Jane dear." Barbara greeted her warmly as she stepped into the cottage. "Well, it's almost time now."

"Yes it is."

"Are you nervous?"

"Not really." Jane replied. "Just ready to see her, ready to get this show on the road." Jane said with a smile.

"Wonderful. I've spoken to Maura's mother and they're just about ready. So if you're prepared we'll go ahead and make our way outside." Barbara said, smiling warmly.

"You might want to go out and take your seat." Barbara suggested to Angela.

"Oh! Yes, I guess I should." Angela said. She came over and pulled Jane into a hug. "You look beautiful Jane. I'm so happy for both of you." She kissed Jane on the cheek and then made her way out the door.

"Thanks Ma." Jane whispered.

"Alrighty then. All set to go?" Barbara asked her.

"Yep." Jane replied. "Oh, I almost forgot Maura's ring." She hurried over to her bag and pulled out the small box, handing it to Barbara.

"Ah yes, that would be good to have." Barbara smiled and took the box from Jane tucking it in her pocket. "Now, are you ready to get married?"

Jane gulped, she couldn't believe she was getting married. "Let's do this."

- **I decided that I was just going to skip to the day of, I could have written about the days leading up or the rehearsal or whatever.. but somehow it didn't feel necessary. And don't worry I'm working on the next chapter currently so it shouldn't be too long. Thanks again for stopping by :) **


	25. Today

**- Here ya go! I hope you enjoy it. The song that's in italics is Today by Joshua Radin in case you were wondering. **

Barbara and Jane made their way out of the cottage and down the side aisle heading towards the archway at the front. She stood in front of the archway with Barbara standing just behind it. Everyone in the chairs were still chatting quietly with each other. Maura had chosen to have just a guitar player and a singer for the ceremony portion of the day. The guitar player was playing some sort of acoustic song quietly as they waited for Maura.

Jane looked up towards the main house, trying to catch a glimpse of anyone that might indicate when Maura was coming. It must be close to time.

Suddenly the song changed, had there been a secret signal that Jane missed? A flash of light or a smoke signal? Jane smiled to herself at that thought and that's when she saw her.

Maura Isles stepped out from underneath the shade of the porch and into the mid afternoon sunlight. Jane was certain her heart stopped, even though Maura would have told her that it was impossible for her heart to stop just from seeing someone.

The singer began quietly.

_Shoelaces untied_

_You can dry your eyes. _

"Ironic." Jane thought as she teared up, watching Maura move slowly towards her. She wore a flowing white gown with an empire waist that trailed behind her, and her hair was in loose waves hanging down her back. As she moved closer Jane could see that she had a crown of white flowers in her hair.

_Perfect shadows lie_

_Behind us_

The house was maybe only 150 feet from where Jane was standing but she felt like Maura was so much further away. She hadn't noticed that everyone was standing; watching Maura come down the aisle, in fact Jane had completely forgotten that there was anyone else around. She only had eyes for Maura.

She made her way closer, coming to the beginning of the chairs and Jane could see the broad smile lighting up Maura's face. She grinned back, overjoyed and overwhelmed by all the feelings rushing through her brain.

_This is the day I make you mine _

Step by step Maura came closer and Jane heard the last verse of the song repeating in her head. "This is the day I make you mine." She couldn't believe that this was real, had it really only been seven months?

Maura was at the front row of chairs now and Jane sucked in a deep breath trying to calm herself.

_But you are the one_

_I've been waiting for today_

Maura took the last few steps, closing the space between them. She stepped next to Jane in the archway and Jane grabbed both of Maura's hands in her own.

"You look stunning." Maura whispered, leaning forward to brush her lips on Jane's cheek.

"You… you look gorgeous." Jane replied with a grin.

_And here comes the sun_

_It's been beating more today_

Maura stepped back and Jane simply stared at the blonde, taking everything in. She swept her eyes from the top of Maura's head, the small white flowers making a crown there, southwards. The necklace Jane had picked out was hovering just above the sweetheart neckline of Maura's strapless dress. There was some sparkly beading to the top of the dress and a chiffon overlay flowing from the empire waist.

She brought her eyes back up to Maura's and grinned at the blonde.

"I love you." She mouthed.

Maura beamed back at Jane in response.

_I know our love has grown_

_Well I thank God you came along_

_Today…_

"Well, shall we begin?" Barbara asked with a laugh, interrupting Jane's thoughts.

Jane glanced over at Barbara who was holding a small notebook in her hands. Jane had completely forgotten that there was a wedding going on, much less that she had a part to play. She must have had a startled look on her face because she heard Maura giggling at her.

"Welcome, everyone." Barbara began. "We are gathered here today to celebrate Jane and Maura's decision to commit their lives to each other."

Barbara continued talking but Jane was having a hard time paying attention to anything she was saying. She was distracted by the feel of Maura's hands in hers, how Maura was sliding her thumb over the center of Jane's palm and the way the blonde was staring at her.

"Are you ready for the vows?" Barbara asked. Jane shook her head to clear it, they were already at the vows? They had discussed that neither woman was particularly interested in writing their own vows and that they wanted the ceremony to be short and sweet. Jane and Maura nodded in response to Barbara.

"Alright then, Jane you can go first."

Jane cleared her throat and began slowly, her hands still grasping Maura's for dear life.

"I Jane Rizzoli, take you, Maura Isles, to be my wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and the love of my life from this day forward." Jane had to work hard to get the last few words past the giant lump in her throat.

Maura grinned in response but Jane could see the tears glistening unshed in the blonde's eyes.

"Maura, your turn."

"I Maura Isles, take you, Jane Rizzoli, to be my wife," Maura repeated, her voice breaking on the word wife. She paused to take a deep breath and Jane squeezed her hands reassuringly. "My constant friend, my faithful partner and the love of my life from this day forward."

"Now Jane, if you will present your wife with her ring." Barbara continued, handing the black velvet box to Jane. Jane popped it open and took out the simple platinum wedding band that was studded with small diamonds all the way around it. She held it between her thumb and forefinger, staring at it for a few seconds before she looked back up at Maura.

"With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon you all the treasures of my mind, heart and hands." Jane promised as she slipped the band on Maura's left hand.

Barbara smiled broadly and closed her notebook. "Under the law of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you, married!"

"How about a kiss?" Maura requested with the widest grin Jane had ever seen her wear.

Jane didn't need to be asked twice, wrapping her arms around Maura's shoulders she pulled the blonde in for a searing kiss.

Maura pulled back slightly, her eyes dancing with laughter. "We're married!"

"Yes we are." Jane agreed and captured Maura's lips again.

They only broke apart when Jane heard someone, most likely one of her brothers, let out a long whistle.

Both women turned towards the chairs, Jane took Maura's hand in hers and everyone began to clap, standing as they made their way back down the aisle. There were many congratulations along the way and Jane glanced over to find Maura grinning broadly.

Jane led Maura to the small cottage where she'd gotten ready. They were going to have a few minutes alone before they met with their photographer to take a few pictures. After that they would head into the tent where everyone else would be waiting for the reception.

Jane opened the door to the cottage and led Maura inside. Someone had been in to tidy while Jane had been gone, but Jane hardly noticed. She pushed the door shut and rounded on Maura.

"So…" Jane husked, moving forward to wrap her arms around the smaller woman. "How does it feel to be a married woman?"

"Amazing." Maura breathed into Jane's hair. "Especially since I'm married to _you._"

Jane grinned into Maura's neck before kissing the delicate skin there.

"Married." Jane pondered out loud, pulling back to look at the blonde. She ran a finger over Maura's cheek, trailing it onto a plump lip. "You look so gorgeous."

Maura's cheeks flushed pink and she peered up at Jane through thick lashes. "You look quite stunning yourself."

Jane pulled Maura to her for another kiss, this one slow and sweet. They had the rest of their lives together, there was no rush.


	26. Epilogue

**- The next chapter is the epilogue. It does contain scenes from childbirth so if that bothers you, you might want to skip it. **

— Two years later —

"Maura are you sure you still want to do this?" Jane asked, peering down at the blonde who was bouncing slightly on a big exercise ball, hands on her belly.

"Yes, Jane. I'm certain that I want to have this baby at home. We've been over this. I'm perfectly comfortable with our midwife and I don't want to do this in the hospital. Many studies say that the unnecessary interventions in the hospital make labor longer and…"

"Alright, alright." Jane interrupted, squatting down to be eye level with Maura. "I know we've talked about what the statistics say. I just wanted to make sure that this was still what you wanted."

"It is." Maura said simply before leaning forward to kiss Jane. She pulled back and closed her eyes, swaying slightly on the ball.

"Is that another contraction?" Jane asked. Maura didn't open her eyes, but nodded her answer at Jane.

Jane waited until the contraction had ended and Maura opened her eyes again. "Do you want me to call the midwife?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure. I'm still not convinced that this is the real thing." Maura responded, her forehead creasing.

"Can I call her anyway? I really want her here sooner rather than later."

"Jane. You know if she comes too early she's just going to leave. We talked about this in my prenatals. Or were you not paying attention?" Maura teased gently.

Jane huffed, "I was! I just want her here, ya know?"

"You can call her if you really want. But she may not come."

Jane jumped up happily and pulled her cell phone out. She talked with the midwife for a few moments before she asked to speak with Maura.

"Maur, she wants to talk to you." Jane said, handing Maura the phone.

Maura spoke with the midwife for a few minutes, all the while, bouncing slightly on the ball.

"She said she thinks I'm still in early labor." Maura said after hanging up. "She said she's in the office today seeing clients but that she's got a break in an hour or so and she'll come by."

Maura stood up from the ball and came to wrap her arms around Jane's neck. "I'm not worried."

"I know _you're _not." Jane replied, leaning down to kiss the blonde. "But _I am_."

"Don't be. It's going to be fine. Women have been giving birth for thousands of years. You know that the first woman to give birth in a hospital—."

Jane interrupted her with another kiss. "I can't believe you still have the brain capacity to spout this stuff off, _googlemouth_." Jane teased.

—

Maura padded around the house in her yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt doing laundry and preparing a meal to put in the crock pot. She would stop every 10 minutes or so to breathe through a contraction. For the first few minutes Jane had followed Maura around, only a few steps behind her as she went about her chores.

Finally after she had run into Jane twice when she turned around, Maura put her foot down. "Jane. Go find something to do with yourself. You are driving me nuts."

Jane went upstairs to shower and then came back down and sat on the couch. She flipped on a recorded basketball game but couldn't pay attention to it. She found herself spending most of her time watching Maura walk around the kitchen.

"Do you want me to do that?" Jane called to Maura as she unloaded the dishwasher.

"No, its fine. It gives me something to do." Maura replied.

"I'm going to go check on the tub." Jane said, getting up off the couch and making her way into the spare bedroom where their large birth tub was set up.

Jane moved around, checking that all of the supplies they had gathered were in place and then she checked the temperature on the tub, making sure it wasn't too cold. She really couldn't believe she had let Maura talk her into having this baby at home. She knew that Maura had done all the research and that this was where she wanted to be. And secretly, Jane had done quite a bit of reading on it herself, so she knew that it was a good fit for Maura.

Jane made her way back out into the living room. Maura was bent over the counter, swaying her hips, with her eyes closed. Jane came up beside her. She wanted to touch Maura, to hold her, but she wasn't sure that Maura would appreciate that in the middle of a contraction.

Maura opened her eyes after a few seconds. She smiled at Jane, "Hey baby."

"Hey." Jane responded. "Are they still 10 minutes apart?"

"No, probably more like five now." Maura responded as she wrapped her hands around Jane's waist, her big belly between them.

"Really already?" Jane asked, surprised. She ran her hands through Maura's hair, gazing into Maura's eyes.

Maura simply nodded and leaned her weight against Jane. Jane stayed there, breathing in the scent of Maura's shampoo, content to be able to hold her wife and feel like she was helping somehow.

The sound of the phone broke them apart. Maura picked up her cell phone and answered it. From Maura's side of the conversation Jane could tell it was the midwife. Maura answered a few questions and then hung up.

"I told her they were more like 5 minutes apart and she said that she and her assistant would be on their way here in a few minutes." Maura replied as she sat her phone down.

"Maura are we going to have our baby today?" Jane asked, taking Maura's hands in hers.

"I think so, Jane." Maura replied, smiling widely.

—

Jane moved around the house, making sure that everything was in place. She checked the changing table, making sure there were plenty of diapers, then she moved to the bassinet next to the window, rearranging the baby blankets. Maura came in and stood in the doorway of their bedroom watching Jane.

"Can you believe we're going to have a baby today?" She asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Not really." Jane replied, straightening up a blanket and laying a tiny hat on the side of the bassinet. "Honestly I'm not sure I've even come to grips with the fact that there's a real, live baby in there." She said, coming over to put her hands on Maura's belly.

Maura laughed, "Oh there definitely is. This little jumping bean has been moving all over the place today."

"What do you think today, boy or girl?" Jane asked. They had this discussion fairly often and neither woman was completely decided on one over the other.

"Hm. I'm not sure, today I'm thinking maybe a girl." Maura replied. "But I don't care."

"Me either." Jane responded. She felt Maura's stomach tighten under hands.

"Is that a contraction?" Jane asked and Maura nodded. "Thats what it feels like? That is really weird." She said, moving her hands over Maura's stomach, feeling the muscles tighten and her skin pull taut. Jane spread her fingers over Maura's belly, keeping her touch light.

She waited until Maura's breathing slowed and she opened her eyes. "That was a really weird feeling." Jane said and Maura laughed.

Just then the doorbell rang. "Must be Susan." Maura said as they made their way to the front door. Jane opened it and ushered in the petite brunette woman that was their midwife.

"Hello, my dears. How is everyone?" She asked, slipping her shoes off and setting her bags down.

"Hey, don't ask me. I'm not the one having a baby." Jane said, holding her hands up. Susan laughed and turned to Maura.

"Pretty good." Maura answered. "I think they're still every five minutes now."

"Good." Susan responded. "My assistant Maddie should be here in a few minutes, but lets take a listen to baby." She reached in one of her bags and pulled out a handheld doppler. She had used the same thing at the office to check the baby's heart rate in their prior visits.

They moved into the living room and Maura sat back on her ball. Susan leaned beside her, holding the wand over Maura's belly. The baby's heart beat filled the room and Jane squeezed Maura's hand. It didn't seem to matter how many times they'd listened to the heartbeat or seen the baby on the ultrasound it still amazed Jane every time that they were hearing _their _baby.

"Everything sounds good." Susan replied after listening for a while. She left to get a few things out of her car. She came back in with her assistant and they moved into the spare bedroom to set up some of their equipment.

"You just do whatever feels right to you." Susan instructed Maura before leaving the couple alone.

The two women settled down to watch a movie, Jane hoping that it would keep Maura's mind off of things. By about halfway through Maura could no longer sit still through her contractions. She got up and wandered around the kitchen, stopping to sway at the kitchen counter. Susan and her assistant came in every so often to listen to the baby and check on them.

Maura's contractions came closer together now and they seemed to be harder to handle. She began breathing more heavily through each one, her eyebrows knitting together. Jane wandered around feeling unsure what to do with herself so she made sure Maura had a glass of water near her and stayed nearby in case she wanted her.

The next time that Susan came in to check on them she suggested that Maura could get in the tub if she wanted. Jane hadn't seen Maura move so fast in months, the blonde waddled quickly into the spare room. Jane smiled at the sight and followed after her. Maura had already pulled off her yoga pants and was pulling her t-shirt over her head when Jane entered the room.

"Excited Maur?" Jane asked, bemusedly.

"You have no idea." Maura replied with a grin. "I've been waiting for the right time to get in the tub. I know that if its too early it can slow everything down." She kept her black cotton sports bra on and Jane helped her step into the tub. She sighed as her body eased into the warm water.

"You can get in with her as well, Jane." Susan suggested and Jane went to their room to change into a swim suit. Coming back she climbed into the tub beside Maura. Maura opened her eyes when she felt the water shift and smiled at Jane. She turned around and settled back against Jane's body. The midwife and her assistant slipped out of the room and Jane kissed down Maura's neck to her shoulder.

"You look so beautiful right now." Jane murmured into Maura's ear.

"I don't know how you can think that." Maura replied. "I feel like a beached whale." But she smiled and Jane knew that she actually quite liked being pregnant. Jane caught her with her hands on her belly all the time.

They had gotten pregnant their second month of trying. Maura's pregnancy had been almost perfect, she'd had barely any morning sickness and she'd felt great the whole time. She'd even been at work until the week before, when she decided she wanted to spend time at home before the baby.

The women floated together peacefully for a little while. Susan came in to check on them.

"Has my labor stopped?" Maura asked, concerned. "I feel like it has slowed down a lot."

"Maybe," Susan replied. "But it might just be a little break before the final stage starts. Enjoy it and rest a bit, you'll need all your strength later."

Maura leaned back against Jane, resting in between the contractions. Jane kept her arms around Maura's belly and stroked the skin there softly. With the next few contractions, though Maura couldn't lay back anymore. She leaned forwards, squatting on her heels with her hands on the edge of the tub. Jane moved beside her, watching her breathe through each wave.

"Those were stronger?" Jane asked, her face wrinkling in concern.

"Yeah." Maura panted, still slightly out of breath from her last one. "Yeah, definitely stronger." Jane got out of the tub to grab both of them a drink and she was on her way back to the bedroom when she heard Maura groaning a deep, throaty groan. She practically ran into Susan who was standing just inside the door, in her hurry to get back into the room.

"What is it?" Jane asked.

"It's alright. This is normal. It's just the next stage of labor. We actually like to hear it, it means she's progressing." Susan assured Jane.

Jane sat their drinks down and climbed back in the tub behind Maura. After she finished that contraction, Maura turned around to face Jane. Jane could see some worry etched in Maura's fine features.

"Jane, I don't… I need to know that I can do this." Maura whispered.

"You can, baby. I know you can do this. You are so strong." Jane replied, pulling both of Maura's hands into hers. Maura continued to groan through the contractions, her hands gripped onto Jane's or the edge of the tub, her eyes squeezed shut and her forehead wrinkled.

Time seemed to lose all meaning to Jane, she was so focused on Maura. She was only slightly aware that it was passing, as Susan listened to the baby's heartbeat every so often. Jane allowed Maura to relax onto her in between contractions and Jane whispered reassurances into her ear.

Jane began to feel herself slip into a half asleep state in the pauses but she sat up straight and her eyes flew open though when she heard Maura's strangled half cry during a contraction. She moved quickly to be able to see Maura's face screwed up in pain. Susan came close to Maura, kneeling directly in front of her.

"Maura?" Susan asked as the contraction ended. "Are you feeling pressure?"

Maura nodded, not loosening her grip on the edge of the tub.

"Okay, thats good, my dear." Susan continued. "You can start pushing if you're feeling the urge. Do what your body tells you to."

Jane was startled, they were already at the pushing part? How had that happened? She wrenched Maura's grip from the tub and took her hands.

"Maur. You can do this. You are going to have our baby. I know you can do this." Maura nodded, looking into Jane's eyes but gritted her teeth as another contraction started. Jane could tell she was pushing as she hunched over, curling into herself. Jane supported Maura's forearms, letting Maura squeeze her arms.

"Well done, Maura." Susan reassured her as she relaxed after the contraction. "With good pushing like that we may have a baby sooner rather than later."

Jane noticed that Susan and her assistant were bustling around the room, setting things up and laying things out but she was pulled back into Maura's world as she had another contraction. With each contraction, Maura bore down, pushing and growing louder each time, she squeezed Jane's arms so hard Jane wondered if there would be bruises.

"Ugh, come on baby!" She exclaimed after another push. Jane had to smile slightly that Maura thought she could boss her baby around before it had even been born.

"Reach down and see if you can feel anything, darling." Susan suggested to Maura after another couple of pushes. Maura reached her fingers down between her legs and her eyes flew open to look at Jane. "Oh my God. I can feel it. I can feel the top of the head." Maura said, apparently flabbergasted that there was a baby coming out of her.

Jane smiled widely. "Thats wonderful Maura. We're gonna meet this baby soon."

A few more pushes and Maura was cursing up a storm. "Shit, shit fuck. Burning. Ugh, fuck!" She managed to get out.

"Jane are going to help her catch this baby?" Susan asked calmly, looking at Jane from where she was bent over the tub, arm deep in the water.

"What?" Jane asked.

"You had better reach your hands down here, we're going to have a baby very soon." Susan replied. "Maura put your hands down here where mine are." She instructed and Maura reached down. Jane reached her hands down underneath Maura's as Maura pushed again, letting out a guttural scream. Jane felt something slip out into the water.

"That's the head." Susan informed them. "One more gentle push now Maura." Jane felt the baby slip into their waiting hands.

"Very good. Now bring baby slowly up to the surface." Susan instructed them and Jane brought her hands up slowly, Maura's on top of hers. Maura was gasping in shock as she pulled the baby up to float against her stomach. Jane, squatting next to her could finally get a good look at the baby as it floated with it's head above the surface in Maura's arms.

"Oh my God." Jane murmured. "Maura, thats our baby."

Maura was moaning nonsensical words through her tears. "Jane, our baby." She finally managed and the baby opened it's eyes to look up at them. It let out a few deep cries before quieting down and simply staring up at the environment it found itself in.

"Wonderful job mama." Susan commented.

Jane stared down at the tiny baby between them before looking up at Maura. "Maura you did it!" She exclaimed as she kissed her deeply before returning to look at the baby.

"Our baby." Maura whispered. "Wait, what is it?" She asked, suddenly remembering that they didn't know if it was a girl or boy.

"You can move the cord aside and find out." Susan said.

"Will you do it, Jane? I don't want to drop it."

Jane nodded and moved the cord from in between the baby's legs gently. She peered down, through the surface of the water. She brought her gaze up to Maura's.

"It's a girl!" She exclaimed. "We have a little girl."

Tears ran down Maura's cheeks as she smiled at Jane. "A girl? I can't believe it."

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Susan suggested they get out so they could dry them all off and get them in bed. Maura walked slowly to their bedroom, holding the baby. They were both dried off before they climbed into bed and Jane climbed in next to them.

"Okay we're going to clamp off the cord so you can cut it Jane."

Jane sat up, reaching down to where Susan had clamped the cord. She handed Jane the scissors. "Right between the two clamps."

Jane took a deep breath before cutting through the cord, freeing their baby from Maura. She looked up to meet Maura's teary eyes and kissed her happily.

"Now you're free little one." She whispered, leaning down to kiss the tiny baby in Maura's arms. Susan helped Maura lean back on some pillows and Maura pulled the baby up to lay where her big belly used to be.

Jane lay down next to Maura and wrapped her arms around her wife and their baby. "Congratulations mama and welcome to the world Ava Cordelia."

**- Weirdly enough I've had this chapter written for a while, the idea came to me a couple months ago and I just knew how their daughter's birth would go. I hope you enjoyed this story! Thank you so much for sticking around and leaving me reviews. This story is now complete! (Although I might have left myself a bit of room for sequels if I feel like it). Thanks for reading :) **


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